The Valpo volleyball team held a 2-1 lead against Illinois State Friday night at the ARC in an effort to secure its second-place finish in the MVC standings, but the visiting Redbirds took set four in extra points and then pulled away in the final frame for a 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 16-25, 27-25, 15-8) victory over the Beacons. With Friday's results, Valpo needs a win or a Drake loss at Indiana State Saturday to earn the two seed for the MVC Tournament.
 
How It Happened

• With a 2-1 lead in the match, it looked like the Beacons might roll to the match win after they started the fourth set with the first four points. But the Redbirds rallied and took the lead as early as 8-7, setting up a set which featured 13 tie scores.
• After a tight frame throughout, ISU pulled out to a four-point lead at 20-16 and still led by four at 22-18 before the Beacons scored five of the next six points to tie it up at 23-all. The Redbirds earned set point at 24-23 and 25-24, but each time Lilly Merk (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South Vigo) came up with a block to extend the frame. On ISU's third set point chance, however, the Redbirds recorded a kill to extend the match to the fifth set.
• Valpo led by two points on two occasions early in the decisive fifth set, and still held a one-point lead at 6-5 before the Redbirds reeled off six points in a row to take control on their way to the match win.
• Valpo held a four-point lead on multiple occasions in the first half of the opening set. A 12-3 run from the Redbirds turned the tables, giving them a five-point lead as the Beacons got no closer than three points the rest of the way.
• ISU led 10-7 approaching the halfway mark of the second set until a 4-0 Valpo run gave it the lead. The Beacons never trailed again in the frame, but didn't pull away until late, when a 4-1 spurt — which included two kills and a block by Kadence Brumitt (Niles, Mich./Brandywine) — turned an 18-17 lead into a 23-19 edge. The teams sided out the rest of the way as Valpo leveled the match.
• A 7-0 run on the serve of Addy Kois (Osceola, Ind./Penn) — including back-to-back aces from the senior — pushed an 11-9 lead to 18-9 in the third set as Valpo took a firm grasp of the frame on its way to a 2-1 lead in the match.

 
Inside the Match

• The loss was Valpo's first in a five-set affair in MVC play this season, as it had previously been 4-0 in conference matches which went the distance.
• The result flipped from the reverse fixture last month, when Valpo went to Normal and emerged with a 3-2 win over the Redbirds.
• The loss dropped Valpo into a second-place tie with Drake in the MVC standings with an 11-4 record in conference play.
• Valpo held a 61-54 edge in kills over the Redbirds and hit 80 points higher (.202-.122), as the Beacons tallied 14 blocks — tied for their highest output in a single match in Valley play.
• The service line proved to be Valpo's bugaboo on Friday, as ISU gained 14 points there — the Redbirds tallied nine aces and seven service errors, while the Beacons had just three aces against 15 service errors. The 15 service errors were five more than the Beacons had in any match this season prior to Friday and tied the most by a Valpo team in a single match since 2007.
• Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall) led all players with 15 kills, a season best and one off her career high. The sophomore recorded her third double-double of the year as well, racking up 12 digs.
• Brumitt was also just one off her career high in the kills department, finishing with 13 to top all players other than Gove. Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) rounded out a trio of Beacons in double figures with 10 kills — the 13^th time in 15 MVC matches this season she has tallied at least 10 terminations.
• Kois led all players with 30 assists, while Mara Thomas (Bogart, Ga./Athens Academy) recorded her 10^th double-double of the season with 22 assists and 14 digs.
• Merk and Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) each had seven blocks to tie for match-high honors and anchor the Beacons' net defense, while Sam Warren (Kentland, Ind./South Newton) registered six rejections.
• Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) led the Valpo back row with 23 digs.

 
Next Up
Valpo (20-8, 11-4 MVC) once again tries to claim the second seed and the corresponding bye to the MVC Tournament semifinals on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. when it hosts Bradley. It will be Senior Night at the ARC, with Hickey, Kois, Warren, Claire Campbell, Maddie Moan and Kendal Ramey being honored after the match. Tickets are available by visiting https://tickets.valpoathletics.com/event/valpo-volleyball-vs-bradley-h5vgzh.