Beacons Fall to Drake in MVC Semifinal
Playing the first home conference tournament match in 20 years, the second-seeded Valpo volleyball team got out to a one-set lead over third-seeded Drake at the ARC Saturday evening, but the visiting Bulldogs rallied for a 3-1 (24-26, 25-16, 25-19, 25-20) victory to advance to the championship match of the MVC Tournament.
How It Happened
– Valpo led for almost the entirety of the first set, but after pulling out to as many as a four-point lead, the Beacons saw the Bulldogs rally back to tie the frame at 20-20.
– For the next four points, Valpo sided out on Drake’s serve to reclaim a one-point lead, only to have the visitors respond immediately with a sideout of their own to tie the score. Finally, at 24-24, a kill from Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) gave the Beacons a second chance to win the set and a Drake attack error concluded the opener in Valpo’s favor.
– Drake led from the jump in set two, forcing an early Valpo timeout at 8-4. The Beacons closed back to within two points jump past the midway mark of the set at 13-11 before the Bulldogs scored 12 of the set’s final 17 points to even the match.
– After Drake led for much of the opening portion of set three, Valpo used a 5-1 run to edge in front, 10-9. But the Bulldogs came back with a 6-0 lead to take the lead for good, and the Beacons got no closer than three points the rest of the way.
– Drake held the lead throughout set four as well. The Bulldogs’ edge grew to as many as five points at 14-9 before a 4-1 spurt brought the Beacons to within 15-13.
– The two squads proceeded to trade sideouts on the next 10 serves, as Valpo battled to try to get its deficit down to just one point. Finally, at 20-17, a kill by Sam Warren (Kentland, Ind./South Newton) gave Valpo the serve and Addy Kois (Osceola, Ind./Penn) followed with a setter dump to make it a one-point frame at 20-19.
– The final stretch went Drake’s way, however, as the Bulldogs scored five of the final six points of the match to advance to the tournament title match.
Inside the Match
– Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) moved up two spots on the NCAA D-I career digs chart to 17th place and one spot on the MVC career digs chart to fourth place on Saturday, tallying a match-high 18 digs to push her career total to 2,665 digs.
– Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) cracked Valpo’s single-season top-10 in the 25-point era for kills, tallying 10 kills to finish the night with 364 kills this year.
– Led by six blocks by Lilly Merk (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South Vigo) and five rejections by Warren, Valpo’s nine team blocks boosted its season total to 288 blocks — ninth-best in a single season in program history and fifth-highest in the 25-point era.
– Warren matched Helming for team-high honors with 10 kills, while Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall) chipped in nine kills on .316 hitting to go with 11 digs and Pickett tallied eight kills on .333 hitting.
– Kois recorded 22 assists, while Mara Thomas (Bogart, Ga./Athens Academy) led all players with 23 helpers.
– Valpo’s attack numbers were similar to its four-set win over Drake in the regular season, as the Beacons hit .126 in the regular season matchup and .128 on Saturday. The Bulldogs recorded 14 blocks to match their output in the regular season meeting, a mark which was the most by a Valley opponent this season against the Beacons.
– The difference between the two matches came on the Drake attack, as after being held to 38 kills on .087 hitting in the regular season, the Bulldogs racked up 52 kills on .254 hitting Saturday.
Next Up
There is potential for the Valpo (21-9, 12-4 MVC) season to continue, as the NIVC would be a possible landing spot. Valpo has competed in the NIVC four times in the last seven seasons, including a run to the quarterfinals in 2018 and the memorable run to the championship match in 2021.
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