The Valpo volleyball team wrapped up its time at Western Illinois' Leatherneck Classic and its nonconference schedule with a 3-1 (25-15, 25-15, 20-25, 25-14) victory over Chicago State Saturday.
 
How It Happened

• A 7-0 run on the serve of Mara Thomas (Bogart, Ga./Athens Academy) helped the Beacons jump out to a 9-1 lead in the opening set, and CSU got no closer than five points the rest of the way.
• Valpo hit at a sizzling .458 clip in the second set on its way to going ahead 2-0 in the match. A three-point spurt from the Cougars cut the Beacons' advantage to 16-12 before Valpo scored nine of the final 12 points of the set to close out the frame.
• CSU took advantage of 11 Valpo attack errors in the third set to take that set and extend the match.
• Another early-set run on Thomas' serve gave the Beacons an 8-2 lead in the fourth set, a lead which never fell below four points as Valpo closed out the win.

 
Inside the Match

• Valpo held a 60-35 advantage in kills over the Cougars and hit at a .272 clip despite committing 23 attack errors to CSU's 14.
• A pair of sophomores led the Beacons' attack, as Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) delivered a match-best 14 kills on .417 hitting and Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall) posted 11 kills on .348 hitting.
• Senior Maddie Moan (Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock [Milwaukee]) matched her career best with 10 kills, doing so on .333 hitting.
• Also contributing to the well-rounded attack were sophomores Kadence Brumitt (Niles, Mich./Brandywine), who registered nine kills on .400 hitting, and Drew Glaser (Edwardsburg, Mich./Edwardsburg), who finished with eight kills.
• Senior Claire Campbell (Warrensburg, Ill./Warrensburg-Latham) doubled her career kill total as she racked up four terminations on just six swings.
• Thomas handed out 19 assists, while senior Addy Kois (Osceola, Ind./Penn) led all players with 21 assists.

 
Next Up
Valpo (9-4) begins Missouri Valley Conference play Friday evening at the ARC with its home opener, as the Beacons take on Drake on Gold Out night. First serve is slated for 6 p.m., and season tickets or single-match tickets are available at bit.ly/Valpo-Tickets.