In a back-and-forth match which featured 29 tie scores and 15 lead changes, the sixth-seeded Valpo volleyball team rebounded from dropping the opening set to earn a 3-1 (27-29, 25-19, 25-23, 27-25) win over seventh-seeded Murray State in the opening round of the MVC Tournament Saturday night from Cedar Falls, Iowa. Senior Elise Swistek (LaPorte, Ind./New Prairie) surpassed 1,000 career kills in the win, while junior Sam Warren (Kentland, Ind./South Newton) set a career high for kills and freshman Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) posted a new best in the blocks department.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo started the match strong, jumping out to a 10-4 lead in the opening set. The Racers rallied and were able to take the lead just past the halfway point, as a 6-0 run pushed MSU in front, 15-13.
• Neither side held more than a two-point advantage the rest of the frame, and each team had two set point chances held off by the opposition before Murray State converted on its third chance to take the first set.
• The Beacons never trailed in the second set, but the Racers did force five tie scores. The frame was tight past the halfway mark, and Valpo's lead was only 16-15 before a kill from Warren sparked a run.
• Freshman Mia Liberti (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle Institute) stepped back to the service line and served the next four points — two of which were kills by senior Elise Swistek (LaPorte, Ind./New Prairie), including the 1,000^th of her career — to give the Beacons separation.
• Freshman Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall) eventually closed the set with a kill to even the match at one set apiece.
• The third set featured eight ties and three lead changes. It was Valpo with the early edge, as the Racers were forced to take a timeout with the Beacons leading 6-3.
• Murray State didn't take much time to jump in front, taking the advantage at 10-9 and extending its lead to three at 15-12. Valpo retook the lead for good a bit later with a 4-0 spurt, featuring back-to-back service aces from sophomore Mara Thomas (Bogart, GA./Athens Academy), to go in front by a 19-17 count.
• The Beacons were unable to pull away, but kept the Racers from stringing together points as well, and on Valpo's second set point chance, Warren put away a kill to make it 2-1 Valpo in the match.
• The fourth set was all MSU early on, as Valpo used a timeout at 6-1 and the Racers pushed out to an 8-1 lead before the Beacons' second point of the frame.
• Murray State's lead was still six later in the set at 17-11 before a key 5-0 spurt from the Beacons — including three kills from freshman Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) — made it a one-point set.
• The Racers pulled back out to a four-point lead at 22-18, but a block from Warren and freshman Lilly Merk (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South Vigo) returned the serve to Valpo. For the second time in the match, it was Liberti who came up with a clutch service run, as this time, the freshman served up five straight points — the last two of which were rejections from Pickett and Helming to give Valpo match point at 24-22.
• MSU was able to hold off those two match point chances, and in fact scored three in a row to earn a set point chance at 25-24 in an effort to force the fifth set. Swistek made sure that would not happen, first evening the frame at 25-25 and then giving Valpo another match point at 26-25 with back-to-back kills. Then fittingly given their production on the evening, it was Valpo's right side which closed out the match, as Helming finished things off with a kill.

 
Inside the Match

• Valpo won its opening-round match at the MVC Tournament for the fifth time in seven chances.
• The Beacons improved to 2-0 all-time against Murray State at the MVC Tournament.
• The story of the night was the performance of Valpo's block. The Beacons racked up 17 blocks over the four sets, their highest output since posting 17 rejections Nov. 5, 2022, ironically in a match at Murray State.
• The 17 blocks are the program's third-most in a four-set match in the 25-point era.
• Leading the way was Pickett with a season-high 10 rejections. She is the first Beacon to reach double figures in blocks since Mallory Januski was part of 13 blocks in the aforementioned 2022 Murray State match, while Pickett's 10 blocks also move her into a tie for second by an individual in the 25-point era in a four-set match at Valpo.
• Pickett's season block total rose to 136 with Saturday's performance, leaping her into third in a single season by a Valpo player in the 25-point era and eighth in a single season overall in program history.
• Merk was one off her season best with six blocks, while Gove doubled her season high as she contributed to six rejections.
• Beyond the blocks, Valpo also held a 69-59 advantage in kills over the Racers. Pacing the Beacons in that department was Helming, who posted seven of her team-high 18 kills — two off her season high — in the fourth-set win.
• Warren flew by her previous career high of 13 kills, finishing the match with 17 terminations on .324 hitting.
• Swistek's eighth kill was the 1,000^th of her collegiate career and she added seven more to finish with 15 kills — her 11^th match with at least 15 kills this season. She added 16 digs as well for a double-double.
• Swistek became the 20^th player in program history with 1,000 career kills and is the 10^th member of Valpo's 1,000-kill/1,000-dig club.
• The senior also cracked Valpo's single-season top-10 in the 25-point era for kills, as with 360 kills this year, she ranks 10^th on that chart — just two kills shy of ninth.
• Gove rounded out the quartet of Beacons in double figures in the kills department with 13.
• Thomas dished out a team-high 29 assists, recorded 12 digs for a double-double and led all players with four service aces. The sophomore now owns 39 aces on the season, tied for third-most by a Valpo player in the 25-point era.
• Junior Addy Kois (Osceola, Ind./Penn) handed out 27 assists as well in the win.
• Junior Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) marched a few spots up Valpo's single-season digs charts with a 21-dig effort to pace the Beacons. Hickey has tallied 680 digs this year, tied for sixth-most by a Valpo player in the 25-point era and seventh-most overall.

 
Next Up
Valpo (18-13) advances to face off with third-seeded UIC on Sunday evening at 6 p.m. with a spot in the semifinals on the line.