The Valpo volleyball team continued its tradition of winning in-season tournament championships on Saturday, earning a share of the USI Invitational title with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-14) sweep of Saint Louis.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo went on an 8-2 run just past the midway point of the first set, capped by an ace and a setter dump for a kill from Mara Thomas (Bogart, Ga./Athens Academy), to push out to a 21-15 lead. The lead never dipped below five points the rest of the way as the Beacons took the opener.
• The Beacons led throughout the second set, but the Billikens closed to within one point late at 21-20. An SLU service error was followed by a service ace from Kadence Brumitt (Niles, Mich./Brandywine) to gain some separation, and a kill by Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall) eventually closed the second frame in Valpo's favor to make it a 2-0 lead in the match.
• Gove and Sam Warren (Kentland, Ind./South Newton) had three kills apiece during an 11-2 run which gave Valpo a 17-8 lead in what turned out to be the final set, as the Beacons cruised to the sweep from there.

 
Inside the Match

• Valpo shared the tournament title with Saint Louis, as both squads posted a 2-1 record over the course of the two days.
• For Valpo, it is its 35^th in-season tournament title in head coach Carin Avery's 24 seasons at the helm of the program.
• Valpo has won at least one in-season crown in 18 of Avery's 24 years.
• A championship on the season's opening weekend has been rarer, however, as this is just the second time in the last 20 seasons Valpo has claimed a title in the first weekend of action.
• Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) closed out a strong opening weekend by reaching double figures in kills for the third straight match, tying for match-high honors with 10 kills on .300 hitting.
• Gove matched Helming with 10 kills to share match-high accolades, her attacking coming on .364 hitting.
• Warren notched nine kills on .350 hitting, while Lilly Merk (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South Vigo) contributed seven kills on .545 hitting out of the middle.
• As a team, Valpo attacked at a .320 clip in the sweep of SLU, its best hitting percentage since hitting .323 against Presbyterian last season on Sept. 20. The Beacons out-killed SLU 44-29, as they held the Billikens to a .131 hitting percentage.
• Valpo tallied eight aces on Saturday, three of which came from Brumitt one day after she posted four aces against Northern Kentucky.
• Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) far outpaced all other players with 19 digs.
• Thomas led the Beacons with 19 assists, while Addy Kois (Osceola, Ind./Penn) dished out 17 assists with a .567 setting percentage.

 
Next Up
Valpo (2-1) heads to the EMU Tournament next week, starting action off against Purdue Fort Wayne Thursday afternoon, Sept. 4 at noon.