Friday, September 15, 2006

The Crusader defense held the Kennesaw State attack to a -.159 hitting percentage and freshman Val Bollenbacher (Bremen, Ind./Bremen) set a career-high with 10 kills as Valpo rolled past the Owls 30-18, 30-19, 30-11 in their second match at the Catamount Clash V Tournament in Cullowhee, N.C.

The Brown and Gold can win the tournament outright Saturday morning when they take on host Western Carolina at 8:00 a.m.

Bollenbacher led a balanced Valpo attack with 10 kills on 16 attacks, doubling her season high in kills that she set Friday morning in the Crusaders' 3-0 win over High Point. The freshman has played in every game since the start of last Saturday's Drake match, and has 18 kills, five aces and 16 digs over those last three matches.

Most of the Crusader offense Saturday afternoon came from the defense, which forced 30 Kennesaw State attack errors and racked up eight blocks, getting four from Jessie Fox (Granger, Ind./Penn) and three apiece from Angie Porché (Lynwood, Ill./Thornton-Fractional South) and Nicole Schulz (Kewaskum, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran).

Bollenbacher was the match's only player with double-digit kills, as Allison Sears (Elkhart, Ind./Memorial) was next for Valpo with eight, and Schulz and Fox each added seven. Sara Hughes (San Antonio, Texas/Perrysburg, Ohio, H.S.) had a solid all-around match with 27 assists, one kill, two service aces and three digs.

The Owls (1-10) had only two kills in the third game, hitting -.400, and committed 10 service aces en route to the loss. Jenny Black, a Mishawaka, Ind. native, had four kills to lead Kennesaw State, who got three kills each from Lindsey Plotner, Asjia Stokes and Ashley Landers.

Valpo's (7-5) Saturday morning match can be heard live on 95.1 FM, WVUR, and online at www.valpo.edu/athletics. That match will mark the end of a season-opening 13-match road trip for the Crusaders, who open the 2006 home season Tuesday against DePaul at 7:00 p.m.

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