A balanced team effort Saturday evening delivered a positive result, as the Valpo volleyball team closed its in-state road swing with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-13) sweep of Indiana State at the Hulman Center in Terre Haute, Ind.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo led from the jump in set one, opening the match on an 9-3 run as it would never trail in the opening frame.
• The Sycamores pulled back to within 12-9 approaching the halfway mark of the set before the Beacons scored eight of the next 10 points, highlighted by a pair of service aces from senior Elise Swistek (LaPorte, Ind./New Prairie) during a 5-0 run. Indiana State got no closer than five the rest of the way as Valpo claimed the opener.
• The Valpo defense led the way in the second-set win, limiting ISU to just eight kills and .000 hitting. The Beacons scored the first four points of the frame as part of a larger 14-5 run to open the set.
• ISU closed to within 19-15 heading into the late stages of the set, but Valpo reeled off six points in a row to close things out — three of which were blocks freshman Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) was in on — and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
• While the defense stood out in set two, it was the Valpo attack which shone the light on the third set, as the Beacons racked up 15 kills on .424 hitting in what turned out to be the final frame.
• Valpo opened the set by pulling out to a 9-3 lead and extended its advantage from there, allowing the Sycamores to score back-to-back points just twice en route to the sweep.

 
Inside the Match

• Valpo never trailed in any of Saturday's three sets, with the only tie score coming at 1-1 in the third frame.
• The Beacons owned a 43-31 edge in kills over the Sycamores and hit .287 to Indiana State's .063 clip.
• It was the fourth time this season Valpo has held its opponent below .100 hitting.
• No player got into double figures in kills for the Beacons, but four posted at least seven kills. Leading the way was junior Sam Warren (Kentland, Ind./South Newton), who recorded nine kills on .467 hitting.
• Swistek posted eight kills to go with 12 digs, while freshman Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall) hit .350 with eight kills.
• Freshman Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) needed just 14 swings to rack up her seven kills, hitting at a .500 clip.
• Both of Valpo's setters recorded a setting percentage north of .400 in the win. Junior Addy Kois (Osceola, Ind./Penn) set at a .451 clip as she handed out a match-best 23 assists, while sophomore Mara Thomas (Bogart, Ga./Athens Academy) registered a .429 setting percentage as she finished with 12 assists and 12 digs for her second straight double-double.
• Junior Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) racked up a match-best 19 digs, in the process jumping two spots on Valpo's career digs chart. Hickey surpassed Bella Ravotto and Sarah Dooms to end the night seventh in program history with 1,658 career digs.
• One night after racking up eight rejections, Pickett was in on five of Valpo's eight blocks Saturday to lead all players.

 
Next Up
Valpo (9-5, 1-1 MVC) returns home to the ARC next weekend, kicking off Homecoming Weekend with a Friday night match against UNI at 6 p.m. Friday evening is Youth Sports Festival night at the ARC. For tickets, visit https://tickets.valpoathletics.com.