It was a celebratory atmosphere for the post-match Senior Night ceremony recognizing Abby Boyle (Byron Center, Mich./Byron Center) and Elise Swistek (LaPorte, Ind./New Prairie) Saturday night at the ARC, as the Valpo volleyball team had just finished a tidy 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-12) sweep of visiting Evansville.
 
How It Happened

• The first set featured 11 ties and three lead changes, with the key moments being how Valpo responded to Evansville runs.
• The Purple Aces' first big spurt was a four-point run which gave them a 12-8 lead, but a few points later, Valpo strung together four points of its own — capped by a block from juniors Maddie Moan (Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock [Milwaukee]) and Sam Warren (Kentland, Ind./South Newton) — to briefly pull ahead, 15-14.
• Evansville put together a 5-1 run a little later to pull out to a 20-17 advantage, but this time, the Beacons answered immediately. A Warren kill stopped the Purple Aces' momentum, junior Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) came up with a kill and freshmen Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) and Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) combined on a block to even things up.
• Sophomore Mara Thomas (Bogart, Ga./Athens Academy) made it a 4-0 run with a service ace to edge Valpo ahead, 21-20. Evansville briefly tied it up again with a kill, but a service error returned the lead and the serve to the Beacons and Swistek served out the set with what ended up being an overall 8-1 run to end the frame — capped by a Pickett kill on an overpass.
• The second set was similar to the first in that it featured 12 ties and four lead changes, but after an early three-point spurt gave the Purple Aces a 7-4 lead, Valpo prevented Evansville from ever stringing together more than two straight points the rest of the frame.
• Evansville held the lead for the vast majority of the first half of the set, but Valpo gradually took control. The Purple Aces' last outright lead came at 15-14 and their last tie came at 16-16 as the Beacons took the lead by scoring four out of five points, two of which were kills from freshman Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall).
• The Beacons' lead was just one at 19-18, and after kills by Warren and Swistek, an attack error made it a two-point set at 21-19. But Valpo closed the set with four points in a row, getting a pair of rejections from Pickett and Helming and a solo block by Gove before Helming finished it off with a kill to give the Beacons the 2-0 lead in the match.
• The way the third set played out stands in stark contrast to the first two frames. The Beacons limited the Purple Aces to just three kills for the set and Evansville never held an outright lead.
• The last tie score came at 2-2, after which Valpo reeled off eight consecutive points — the last two of which were back-to-back second-touch kills to deep corners by back-row setter Addy Kois (Osceola, Ind./Penn). Evansville scored the next three points to force a Valpo timeout, but after the Purple Aces got within four at 11-7, the Beacons scored 14 of the match's final 19 points to finish off the sweep.

 
Inside the Match

• While Valpo came away with the win Friday, the Beacons' hopes for the fourth seed and a first-round bye in the MVC Tournament were dashed by other results around the conference.
• Following the match, Boyle and Swistek were honored as their collegiate careers start to wind down. The duo has been a part of 83 victories at Valpo and has helped the Beacons to three postseason appearances, including the run to the NIVC title match in 2021.
• Boyle has appeared in 90 matches, totaling 118 digs. Following a season-high nine-dig performance last night, Boyle registered four digs and an assist in Saturday's win.
• Swistek ranks 13^th in program history with 1,447 career digs and is approaching four figures in the kills department as well, ending the night with 985 kills. She posted a team-best 10 kills in the sweep, the 19^th time this season she has led Valpo in kills.
• One night after limiting Indiana State to what was then the lowest hitting percentage (.053) by a Valpo opponent in MVC play, the Beacons outdid themselves Saturday, holding Evansville to 26 kills — also the low by a Valpo opponent in Valley action — on .048 hitting.
• It was a team effort at the net defensively as Valpo recorded nine team blocks, as Pickett and Helming tied for team-high honors with four rejections apiece. Moan and Warren were both in on three blocks, while Gove had a pair of solo stuffs to go with a season-best three service aces.
• Pickett's four blocks boosted her season total to 120, putting her alone in eighth place in the 25-point era in the Valpo record book.
• The back-row work was led by Hickey, who tallied 17 digs Saturday. The junior surpassed her sophomore year dig total and now ranks 10^th in a single season by a Valpo player in the 25-point era with 635 digs this year.
• Hickey also upped her career dig total to 1,998, leaving her on the verge of hitting the 2,000-dig milestone on Tuesday night.
• Thomas and Kois each chipped on the defensive side with 14 digs, the latter setting a season high in the process. Both setters ended the night with double-doubles, as Thomas tallied 16 assists and Kois 15.
• Valpo's balanced attack featured five different players finishing between five and 10 kills. Swistek led the way, while Helming bounced back in a big way Saturday with nine kills on .438 hitting.

 
Next Up
Valpo (17-12, 9-8 MVC) closes out the regular season on Tuesday night at the ARC at 6 p.m. against UIC. With a victory, the Beacons would be the fifth seed for the MVC Tournament, while with a loss, they would fall into the 6-7 matchup.