VU Winning Streak Comes to End Tuesday Evening
The Valpo volleyball team’s six-match winning streak ended at the hands of visiting UIC Tuesday evening at the ARC, as the Flames dealt the Beacons a 3-1 (25-17, 26-28, 26-24, 25-19) defeat.
How It Happened
– UIC never trailed in the opening set. Valpo battled back from an early five-point deficit to even the score at 10-10, but the Flames answered with 12 of the next 16 points to take control.
– The second set featured 12 ties and six lead changes as it went into extra points. UIC held a four-point lead at 17-13 before a four-point Valpo spurt — including consecutive kills from Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall) — erased the entirety of the deficit.
– Later in the set, it was a 22-20 Flames lead before the Beacons rattled off another four-point run to turn the tables and earn set point at 24-22. But UIC held off both chances and earned set points of its own at 25-24 and 26-25, both of which Valpo turned away with kills from Sam Warren (Kentland, Ind./South Newton). A UIC hitting error gave the Beacons their third chance at the set, and this time, they converted thanks to a Gove kill to even the match at a set apiece.
– UIC held a 23-20 lead late in set three, but Warren sandwiched a pair of kills around a Flames hitting error to even the set at 23-23 and make it a race to two. A UIC kill gave it the first set point at 24-23 before Lilly Merk (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South Vigo) forced extra points with a kill. But another kill gave the Flames a second chance at the set, and a service ace gave them the 2-1 lead in the match.
– A 7-1 run in the fourth set gave UIC a 13-7 lead and control it would not relinquish. The Beacons got to within three late at 21-18, but the Flames closed the match on a 4-1 spurt to finish off the win.
Inside the Match
– The loss snapped Valpo’s six-match winning streak and was the Beacons’ first defeat in the month of October.
– Despite the loss, Valpo still holds a one-game lead over UIC and Drake for second place in the MVC standings.
– UIC’s attack was the story of the match, as Valpo was a season-worst -13 in the kills department (57-70) and the Flames hit at a .275 clip, the highest mark by a Valpo opponent this season.
– After a pair of wins last weekend that featured strong advantages in the service game, the Beacons matched their season low with just two aces Tuesday against five errors, while UIC tallied six aces.
– Coming off the best offensive performance of her career, Warren had another stellar match on the attack. The senior totaled a match-high 19 kills — the second-most of her career — on .312 hitting while also adding four blocks.
– Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) continued her strong sophomore campaign with 15 kills. Helming has been in double figures in kills in all nine of Valpo’s MVC matches and has tallied at least 15 kills eight times in Valley play.
– Kadence Brumitt (Niles, Mich./Brandywine) was one off her career high in both kills and digs Tuesday, finishing with 12 kills on .270 hitting and 16 digs. The double-double was the third of her collegiate career.
– With a match-best 29-dig performance, Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) moved past former Drake standout Kylee Macke into fifth place in MVC history in career digs as Hickey now owns 2,525 career digs. She is just 17 digs away from cracking the top-25 in NCAA D-I history in the category.
– Merk paced the Beacons with five blocks, the fifth time in MVC play she has totaled at least five rejections.
Next Up
Valpo (16-6, 7-2 MVC) closes out its four-match homestand on Saturday evening as part of Homecoming Weekend as the Beacons host Southern Illinois at 6 p.m.