Valparaiso (11-15, 3-7 Horizon)

Crusaders close out non-league action, head to northeast Ohio

Tuesday, Oct. 25 - at Fort Wayne (11-12, 7-3 Summit) - Fort Wayne, Ind. - 6 p.m. CT
Friday, Oct. 28 - at Cleveland State (18-4, 9-1 Horizon) - Cleveland, Ohio - 6 p.m. CT
Saturday, Oct. 29 - at Youngstown State (7-17, 1-9 Horizon) - Youngstown, Ohio - 1 p.m. CT

This Week in Crusader Volleyball: The Valparaiso University volleyball team faces its final non-league match of the season Tuesday evening at Fort Wayne before heading to northeast Ohio, taking on Cleveland State on Friday night and Youngstown State on Saturday afternoon.

Previously: Facing their second consecutive week playing primarily without a traditional setter, the Crusaders posted a 2-1 record last week. Valpo swept Chicago State in non-league action on Tuesday evening before taking down Wright State on Friday night in an epic defensive battle. Northern Kentucky swept the Crusaders on Saturday to close out the week.

Looking Ahead: Valpo returns home for a three-match homestand at the ARC with a pair of league home matches next weekend. The Crusaders welcome UIC to the ARC on Friday evening and Green Bay on Saturday afternoon.

Following the Crusaders: Both of this weekend's Horizon League matches will be streamed live on ESPN3, and also are accessible via WatchESPN and the ESPN app. The Tuesday match at Fort Wayne also has a video broadcast through the Mastodons' website as well. Links for the live video for all three matches, as well as live stats, can be found at ValpoAthletics.com.

Head Coach Carin Avery: In her 15th season as head coach at Valparaiso, Carin Avery has won 350 matches (350-147) and has led Valpo to three league regular season and tournament titles, as well as three NCAA Tournament appearances. A two-time league Coach of the Year, Avery has coached 40 All-League recipients over her tenure as Crusader head coach. She is Valpo’s all-time leader in both victories and winning percentage, and owns 405 career victories overall as a head coach, reaching the 400-win milestone earlier this season with the Crusaders' win over South Dakota State.

Series Notes: Fort Wayne - Valpo trails the all-time series with the Mastodons, 12-8, but has won the last three matchups between the two squads. Last season, the two teams met in Valpo, with the Crusaders earning a 3-1 victory behind 20 kills from Emily Campbell.

Cleveland State - The Vikings are 21-15 all-time versus the Crusaders and own an 14-8 edge since Valpo joined the Horizon League prior to the 2007 season. CSU earned a 3-1 victory over Valpo earlier this season at the ARC.

Youngstown State - Valpo owns a 27-8 advantage in the all-time series against the Penguins, including an impressive 17-4 mark since joining the Horizon League. Earlier this season in Valpo, YSU picked up its first win in the series since 2012, downing the Crusaders at the ARC in five sets.

Scouting the Opposition: Fort Wayne - The Mastodons enter Tuesday's match at just 11-12 overall, but sit near the top of the Summit League with a 7-3 mark within league play. Nicole Rightnowar leads the Fort Wayne offense with 3.47 kills/set, while Olivia Hahn averages 4.85 digs/set from the libero position.

Cleveland State - The Vikings come into the week atop the Horizon League standings at 9-1 and own an 18-4 overall record. Grace Kauth averages 3.65 kills/set on .232 hitting and also posts 2.82 digs/set, while Aaliyah Slappy hits at a team-best .343 clip and owns a team-high 1.21 blocks/set.

Youngstown State - The Penguins are just 7-17 overall and 1-9 in Horizon League action entering the week. Lori Vanbeek posts a team-high 3.40 kills/set and also leads YSU in hitting percentage at .294, while both Vanbeek (1.04) and Sarah Varcolla (1.08) average better than a block per set.

Longoria Earns Repeat League Honor: Senior Morganne Longoria continued to fill a dual role as libero and primary setter last week for the Crusaders, and in doing so, earned Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honors for a second straight week. Longoria averaged 5.55 digs and 5.09 assists per set over last week’s three matches, posting 16 assists and 12 digs in Valpo’s sweep of Chicago State and 13 digs and 14 assists against Northern Kentucky. Friday’s five-set victory over Wright State was the highlight of the week, however. Longoria picked up a new career high with 36 digs, easily out-pacing her previous career best of 30, and found the time to hand out 26 assists as well – just two shy of her career high set the previous week. Her 36 digs mark the fifth-most in a five-set match in Valpo history. Longoria is the first Crusader player to earn league weekly honors in back-to-back weeks since Taylor Root did so in the first two weeks of the 2010 campaign.

Carlson Stands Out: Sophomore Katherine Carlson enjoyed a career match all around for the Crusaders in the win over Wright State. Carlson tied for match-high honors with 22 kills on .269 hitting, while also recording 28 digs and 10 assists. All three marks set new career highs for the sophomore, who became the first Valpo player since Jenny Pokorny – also against Wright State, on Oct. 16, 2010 – to pick up a triple-double. Carlson set a new career high with 67 attacks as well.

A Record-Setting Contest: The Crusaders' five-set battle with Wright State on Friday was something unprecented in D-I volleyball this year. As a team, the Crusaders totaled 270 attacks Friday night, the most by any Division I team in a single match in at least the last three years. The 270 swings were easily a program high in the rally-scoring era and also marked the second-most in a single match in program history, with the record being set way back in 1990. Valpo finished the victory with 129 digs as a team, the second-most by a D-I team this season – only trailing Wright State’s Friday total of 143 digs. For the Crusaders, the total was the fifth-highest dig mark in a single match in program history – setting a new rally scoring high – and was the highest total since 1994.

Campbell Sets New Record: Senior Emily Campbell shouldered the highest percentage of the offensive load in the win over the Raiders, taking 79 swings and matching Carlson with 22 kills. The 79 attacks set a new Valpo single-match record, which Campbell shared previously with Kathy Harrison at 77. Campbell has now reached double figures in kills in five of her six starts since her return from injury.

Offense Unconventional, Yet Efficient: Running a modified 6-2 formation at Chicago State last Tuesday, with setter Tarrah Lasky - returning from injury - setting from the back row, but rotating out in the front row, Valpo enjoyed its top offensive performance of the season. The Crusaders tallied 47 kills in the three-set sweep against just 14 attack errors, posting a season-best .327 hitting percentage.

Milestone Saturday: Valpo's match against Milwaukee Oct. 15 featured a pair of milestones reached in a three-point span. A bit past the midway point of the fourth set, Longoria registered her 24th dig of the match, giving her 2,000 career digs. Longoria joined past four-year Crusader liberos Taylor Root and Brittany Malicoat with over 2,000 digs for her career, and ranks among the top-five active players in the category as well. Then, just two points after Longoria reached her milestone, Campbell proceeded to record a special mark as well. Campbell picked up her 1,000th career dig against the Panthers in the fourth set of that contest, after having already surpassed 1,000 career kills last season. The senior is one of just eight players in program history to record quadruple figures in both kills and digs for a career.

What a Win: The Crusaders' victory over Oakland was key as they downed the then-league leader on the road, but especially considering it was their first match with an adjusted attack strategy, it was one of the most remarkable wins in program history. With Longoria stepping in as the primary setter, Valpo hit above .200 in each of the three sets in the win over the Golden Grizzlies and ended the match hitting at a .237 clip.

Let's Have a Block Party: With the unconventional offensive attack, the need for the defense to step up has been amplified, and the Crusaders did that in the match against Milwaukee - coming within a half-block of matching a program record for blocks in a match. Valpo tallied 20.5 blocks versus the Panthers, the fourth-best effort in program history, as it picked up at least four blocks in all four sets. The total was the program’s highest single-match block total in the 25-point era and was the highest block total since tallying 21 against UCLA in 2005. Individually, senior Rachel Bruinsma led the way with a new career high of nine rejections. Right behind her was senior Jamie Lacheta, who doubled her previous career best of four blocks as she finished the night with eight. Both sophomore Kayla Currier and Campbell finished just one off their respective career highs in blocks as well, posting six blocks apiece.

Returns to Action: Valpo's lengthy injury report has finally been pared down in recent weeks. Campbell returned Sept. 30 after missing three weeks with an ankle injury, while Lacheta and Currier each came off the bench for their first action in some time against Milwaukee Oct. 15 - Lacheta had not appeared since Sept. 30, while Currier took the court for the first time since Sept. 13. Setter Tarrah Lasky returned at Chicago State last Tuesday after missing two and a half weeks, but missed the Crusaders' last match against NKU. Among those still sidelined are Lizzie Zaleski and Allison Ketcham - the latter has undergone season-ending surgery and is expected to seek a medical redshirt.

Avery Reaches 400: Posting at least 20 wins year after year, head coach Carin Avery reached the 400-win milestone for her career on Sept. 10 with the Crusaders' win over South Dakota State. The program's all-time winningest head coach, Avery is one of just 51 active Division I head coaches with 400 career wins, and is one of just two (Bobbi Petersen - UNI) who currently own at least 400 career wins and have been a head coach for 17 seasons or fewer.

All-Tournament Honors: Junior Taylor Graboski was named to the All-Tournament Team at Ball State as the Crusaders wrapped up their early-season tournament schedule, one of four Valpo players to earn All-Tournament honors this year. Senior Morganne Longoria earned All-Tournament accolades both at Valpo and at Troy, while sophomore Lizzie Zaleski joined Longoria on the All-Tournament Team at Troy. The opening weekend of play saw both Graboski and senior Emily Campbell represent the Crusaders on the All-Tournament Team at Army West Point's Black Knights Invitational.

Last Year’s Award Winners: Valpo had four players honored by the Horizon League for their play last season. Senior Emily Campbell (4.25 kills/set, 2.94 digs/set) and junior Allison Ketcham (3.53 digs/set, 2.72 kills/set) both earned All-League honors, Campbell doing so for the second straight year. Meanwhile, sophomores Katherine Carlson (2.36 kills/set, 2.57 digs/set) and Kayla Currier (1.86 kills/set, 0.90 blocks/set) both earned spots on the All-Freshman Team. Valpo has had multiple All-League honorees each of its nine years in the Horizon League and in every season dating back to the Mid-Con in 2001. The Crusaders have also had multiple All-Freshman team honorees in each of the last three years.

20 Wins, Year After Year: The Valpo volleyball program finds itself among a prestigious group of programs nationwide, as last year’s 27-win campaign was the 14th straight season the Crusaders captured at least 20 victories – all under head coach Carin Avery. Only nine Division I volleyball programs have won at least 20 matches in each of the last 14 years, a group which includes Colorado State, Florida, Hawai'i, Nebraska, Ohio, Penn State, Stanford and Western Kentucky.

League Success: Valpo has finished among the top-four in the Horizon League every season since joining the league prior to the 2007 campaign, including four second-place finishes in the last eight seasons. In addition, the Crusaders are the only team to progress to at least the league tournament semifinals each season since they joined the league, including four appearances in the league title match. Valpo owns a .642 (95-53) winning percentage in Horizon League play since 2007.

Looking Back at 2015: Last year’s Crusader team matched the second-most wins in a single season in program history, posting a 27-8 overall record. Valpo finished in third place in Horizon League play, going 11-5 in league action, and advanced to the Horizon League Championship title match for the fourth time since joining the league prior to the 2007 season. Along the way, the Crusaders set a new program best to start the season, winning each of their first nine matches, while Emily Campbell and Allison Ketcham were named All-Horizon League honorees.

Plenty of Experience Returns: 12 of 14 letterwinners returned in 2016 from last year’s 27-win squad, including all but one starter. The only losses from last year’s team were starting setter Kelsey Berrington, who finished her career third in program history in assists, and defensive specialist Catherine Ament, who was forced to step away from playing due to being medically unable to compete. On the flip side, the Crusaders welcomed just one newcomer to this year’s team – defensive specialist Alana Brown, out of Vintage [Calif.] H.S.