Saturday, November 16, 2002

Valparaiso picked up its 20th victory of the season for the first time since the 1996 season as the Crusaders closed out the regular season with a 30-18, 30-22, 30-23 sweep of Western Illinois on Saturday afternoon in Macomb, Ill.

Marion Hansen (Huntley, Ill./Huntley H.S.) led the Crusaders with nine kills, while Lindsey Moore (Wakarusa, Ind./Penn H.S.) had a team-high 13 digs. Moore also had four of the Crusaders 13 service aces on the afternoon.

Jamie Hastings had a match-high 14 kills for the Westerwinds, while Christy Ottmers and JoEllyn Dorsey each tallied 14 digs for the hosts.

The Brown and Gold had 46 kills to Western's 33 and outblocked the Westerwinds 9-4 for the match. Valpo hit .272 to Western Illinois' .070.

The Crusaders wrapped up the regular season with a 20-9 record overall, 9-3 in the Mid-Continent Conference. They will travel to Tulsa, Okla. next Friday for the Mid-Con Tournament semifinals where they will face IUPUI at a time to be determined early in the week. The Westerwinds fall to 3-29, 3-9 with the loss.