Hickey Cracks NCAA Top-25 in Career Digs as Beacons Sweep SIU
The sound of the Victory Bell tolling rang up and down Union Street Saturday night, as the Valpo volleyball team made sure it would be a happy Homecoming Saturday evening with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-19) sweep of Southern Illinois to keep its hold on second place in the MVC standings. During the third set of Saturday’s win, Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) moved into the top-25 in NCAA D-I history in career digs.
How It Happened
– Valpo’s block was the story of the first set, as the Beacons racked up seven rejections while holding SIU to just eight kills for the frame. Valpo gained the lead for good at 6-5, and used a mid-set stretch where it kept earning two points to the Salukis’ one to push the edge to 15-10 — the lead didn’t dip under three points the rest of the way as the Beacons took the opener.
– Back-to-back service aces for Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall) — her second time serving consecutive aces in the set — approaching the midway point of the second set gave Valpo the lead for good in that frame, turning a 10-10 tie into a 12-10 lead.
– A 7-0 run on the serve of Mara Thomas (Bogart, Ga./Athens Academy) later in the set pushed the lead out to 21-12. SIU battled back to within three points late, in the process holding off three Valpo set point chances, but the Beacons finally came through with a Sam Warren (Kentland, Ind./South Newton) kill to claim the 2-0 lead in the math.
– While it was the block and the serving in the first two sets, it was the attack which stood out in the third set. Of Valpo’s 25 points, 21 came courtesy of kills — including six by Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) and five from Kadence Brumitt (Niles, Mich./Brandywine).
– Even with all of those kills, the third set was the one it took Valpo the longest to gain control of. SIU led as late as 15-14 before a 5-1 spurt — including two kills from Lilly Merk (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South Vigo) — made it 19-16 Beacons. The Salukis got back to within two twice, but no closer, and Valpo closed the sweep with four straight points, capped by a Helming kill.
Inside the Match
– After totaling just eight digs in the first two sets, Hickey racked up 13 in the third set alone to finish with a match-best 21 digs to push her career total to 2,546 digs. The senior hit the top-25 in D-I history with her 13th dig of the match and actually closed the night in 24th place in D-I history.
– Valpo kept a hold on second place in the MVC standings with Saturday’s win, as the Beacons sit at 8-2, with UIC and Drake both 7-3 in MVC play. The 8-2 mark through 10 conference matches is the program’s best start to a league slate since the 2013 team was 8-2 through 10 Horizon League contests.
– Saturday’s win was just the second three-set match for the Beacons in MVC play, joining their win at UIC. Valpo has yet to lose a three-set match this season.
– Valpo finished with 50 kills on .286 hitting, its second-best hitting percentage in MVC play this season — its best (.340) also came against the Salukis. The Beacons’ 14 attack errors tied their fewest in conference action this year.
– Meanwhile, Valpo’s defense held SIU to 31 kills on .128 hitting — the lowest clip for a Valpo opponent since limiting UNI to .101 hitting back on Sept. 27. A big part of the difference in that area from the first meeting, when SIU hit .261 with 63 kills, was the Beacons’ ability to limit Saluki right side Kelly Franklin — Franklin racked up 23 kills in the first meeting, but was held to four kills Saturday while the Beacons blocked her five times.
– Defensively, Valpo finished with 11 team blocks to hit double figures in that category for the 11th time this season. Merk led the way with six rejections, the sixth time this year she has posted at least five blocks, while also registering eight kills on .429 hitting.
– Warren paced the Beacons on the attack for the third straight match and the fourth time in the last five contests, picking up 14 kills on .423 hitting.
– Helming added 10 kills to keep her streak of double-digit efforts in that category going, as she has tallied at least 10 kills in each of Valpo’s 10 MVC matches.
– Thomas and Addy Kois (Osceola, Ind./Penn) tied for match-high honors with 19 assists apiece.
– Gove’s four aces, all of which came in the second set, were a new career best.
– Valpo welcomed Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) back to the active roster after she had missed the last four matches due to injury. Called upon off the bench in the second set, Pickett made an immediate impact with a solo block on her very first point and later added three kills on eight swings.
Next Up
Valpo (17-6, 8-2 MVC) will go on the road for its next four matches, beginning Halloween night, Oct. 31 at 5 p.m. CT at Indiana State.