In a conference season which has been full of drama and nail-biters, it seems fitting that the Valpo volleyball team had one final match go down to the wire to close the regular season Saturday, and once again it was the Beacons who emerged victorious down the stretch, as they earned a 3-2 (25-16, 25-20, 22-25, 21-25, 15-12) win over Bradley in front of a raucous crowd at the ARC to secure the second seed for the MVC Tournament. The win came on Senior Night, as the program celebrated its six players who played in their final regular season home match Saturday.
 
How It Happened

• The first big blow in the decisive fifth set came from Bradley, which went on a four-point spurt early on to pull out to a 5-2 lead and force a Valpo timeout.
• The Braves held the lead through the changeover at the midway point despite Valpo closing to within one twice, and when Bradley pushed its edge back up to three points at 10-7, the Beacons used their second timeout.
• Out of the stoppage, Pickett came up with a kill, followed by a BU attack error to make it 10-9. A kill by the Braves was answered by Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston), and when the Braves committed another error, the score was tied at 11-11 — the first tie since 2-2.
• Bradley used its first timeout at that point, but that was hardly enough to slow down both the team's momentum and the crowd's excitement. Out of the break, Lilly Merk (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South Vigo) and Sam Warren (Kentland, Ind./South Newton) teamed up on a block to give Valpo a 12-11 lead.
• Bradley came back with a kill to tie things up at 12-12, but on her Senior Night, Warren was not to be denied, coming up with back-to-back kills to give the Beacons match point at 14-12. On their first try, a Bradley hitting error finished things off and set off a celebration inside the ARC.
• For the first two sets Saturday, the idea a fifth set would be necessary seemed unlikely. Starting at right back on her Senior Night, Maddie Moan (Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock [Milwaukee]) got things started with a four-point service run — including a pair of aces — to give the Beacons a lead they would never relinquish and which never fell under three points as they claimed the opener.
• Valpo led for the entirety of the second half of set two, but it was a tighter frame, as the Braves closed to within one at 20-19. But that just set up Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall) to take over the end stages. Gove picked up a kill to keep the Beacons in front, and then after a Mara Thomas (Bogart, Ga./Athens Academy) service ace, it was Gove with consecutive kills to give Valpo set point. On the Beacons' second chance, it was Gove walling up at the net with just her third solo block of the season to give Valpo a 2-0 lead in the match.
• Valpo led 16-13 in set three in hopes of closing out a sweep before a 5-0 Bradley run put the Braves in front. The Beacons fought back to tie the score at 20-20 and 21-21, but the Braves scored four of the set's final five points to extend the match to a fourth set.
• Bradley jumped in front nearly from the start of the fourth frame, extending its lead to as many as eight points at 17-9. The Beacons rallied to get back to within two points three times late in the set, but were unable to get that one last push they needed to get over the top as the match headed to the fifth set.

 
Inside the Match

• Six Beacons were honored on Senior Night: Moan and Claire Campbell (Warrensburg, Ill./Warrensburg-Latham) started at the two middles, Addy Kois (Osceola, Ind./Penn) started at setter, Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) started at libero, Warren rotated in at her usual right side position paired with Thomas and Kendal Ramey (Crawfordsville, Ind./Western Boone) saw action in each of the first three sets as a serving sub.
• Campbell matched her career high with three blocks, while Moan set a career best with two aces and a season high with five digs to go with two blocks.
• Kois dished out 27 assists, pushing her career total — which ranks tenth in program history — to 2,662 assists.
• Hickey paced the Beacons with 18 digs, pushing her career total in that department to 2,647 digs — just nine away from moving into 18^th in NCAA history and fourth in MVC history in the category. Hickey also handed out eight assists on Saturday.
• Warren exploded for a career-high 23 kills on .362 hitting, in the process setting a Valpo single-match high this season and moving past the 300-kill mark this year. She also was part of a team-high four blocks.
• Saturday's win gives Valpo both its best conference record (12-4) and conference finish (t-2^nd) since joining the MVC.
• This year is the tenth time a Carin Avery-led Valpo squad has finished in the top two in the conference standings, but is the first-such finish since the 2013 team finished in second place in the Horizon League.
• Six of the Beacons' 16 MVC matches went the full five sets, with Valpo finishing with a 5-1 record in those matches.
• Valpo extended its winning streak over Bradley to eight straight matches — a streak which started back on Nov. 13, 2021. Notably, of the eight wins in the streak, six of them have come in five-set matches.
• Valpo has now swept the season series over Bradley with a pair of five-set wins in 2022, 2023 and 2025. The last non-Bradley opponent Valpo did that to was Loyola, back in 2018.
• Valpo held a slim 67-64 advantage in kills Saturday and hit .276 to the Braves' .236 clip. The Beacons also had seven service aces, their highest total since recording eight at Illinois State Oct. 3.
• The Beacons racked up 10 total team blocks, the 13^th time this season they have hit double figures in the category.
• Warren was one of two Beacons to hit a career high in the kills department Saturday, as Gove set a season best and tied her career high with 16 kills. The sophomore also recorded 17 digs for her second double-double of the weekend and fourth of the year.
• Helming continued her consistent production, hitting .333 with 15 kills — her ninth time in 16 MVC matches racking up at least 15 kills.
• Thomas led Valpo with 28 assists and picked up 12 digs as well for her 11^th double-double of the season.

 
Next Up
Valpo (21-8, 12-4 MVC) earned the second seed for the MVC Tournament by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker over Drake, as the Beacons won the lone meeting this season back on Sept. 26 in four sets. That second seed gives Valpo a bye to the semifinal round, which it will host at the ARC Saturday, Nov. 22 at 6 p.m. versus either third-seeded Drake or sixth-seeded Belmont. Tickets are on sale now for the semifinal match.