Check another milestone off the list in the illustrious career of Valpo volleyball head coach Carin Avery, as with the Beacons' 3-1 (25-15, 17-25, 25-20, 25-23) win at Murray State Friday evening, Avery claimed her 500^th victory at the helm of the Valpo program.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo hit at a sizzling .405 clip from the floor in set one to take the early lead in the match. The Beacons went on a 6-0 run on the serve of Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) to extend a 7-5 lead to 13-5, and the Racers got no closer than four points the rest of the way.
• Valpo scored the first four points of set two and led past the halfway mark of the set, taking a 15-12 lead into the media timeout. But out of the stoppage, Murray State reeled off 10 consecutive points to take control as the match went into the in-game break tied at one set apiece.
• The Racers led by as many as three points early in the third frame and still held the lead at 6-5 before the Beacons went on an 8-2 run, featuring kills from four different players, to take a 13-8 lead.
• The advantage was short-lived, however, as MSU answered with an 8-1 run to turn the set back in its favor with a 16-14 lead.
• After the teams traded sideouts, Valpo went to work with the biggest and most critical run of the frame. The Beacons ended the third set on a 10-3 spurt, pulling away late to go up 2-1 in the match.
• It was a struggle for control of the fourth set in the first half of the frame, and not just one-point swings each way. When Valpo took the lead at 14-13, it was already the sixth lead change of the set and both sides had enjoyed a three-point lead at least once.
• The aforementioned lead change was part of a 5-0 Valpo run which ended with the Beacons leading 17-13 and proved to be the final of the set and the match. That doesn't mean the run-in was easy for Valpo, however, as MSU stayed tight, closing to within one point at 19-18 and 21-20.
• Both times, the Beacons kept the Racers at bay and they eventually reached match point at 24-21. A service error gave MSU one point, but on the next point, it appeared Valpo had closed out the match with a kill and the Beacons started to celebrate. In a case of déjà vu from last Saturday, however, the play was challenged and overturned, forcing the Beacons to regroup as they retook the floor. But this time, it took just one point to end the match for certain, as Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall) closed things out with a kill.

 
Inside Avery's Valpo Career

• Avery's 500^th win at the helm of Valpo volleyball came in her 752^nd match in charge of the program, good for a .665 winning percentage.
• In her 23^rd season as head coach, Avery's squads have averaged better than 22 wins per season over her 22 complete years.
• Her Valpo teams have finished with a winning record in 20 of her 22 seasons, winning at least 20 matches in 18 of those seasons.
• Avery is the second current MVC coach to win at least 500 matches at their current institution, joining UNI's Bobbi Petersen.

 
Inside the Match

• Valpo earned its first win at Murray State in program history on Friday. The teams had never met in Murray before the Racers joined the MVC, MSU earned a five-set win in 2022 and the teams did not face off last season in the Bluegrass State.
• The Beacons' defense limited MSU to a .135 hitting percentage in Friday's win.
• On the attack, Elise Swistek (LaPorte, Ind./New Prairie) led the way with a match-high 16 kills on .324 hitting.
• Freshman Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) backed up Swistek with her second consecutive big match on the attack, posting 14 kills on .379 hitting.
• The Beacons' win on Friday came despite being down two rotation regulars.

 
Next Up
Valpo (11-9, 3-5 MVC) looks for the weekend sweep on Saturday when it takes the court in the Music City to face Belmont at 5 p.m.