Facing a UNI squad which entered the evening having won its last 43 matches against MVC competition, the Valpo volleyball team acquitted itself well in a defensive battle on Saturday at the ARC as it finished the match tied up with the Panthers in total points, but UNI won the close sets to emerge with a 3-1 (17-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-23) victory.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo scored five of the first six points in the opening set and never relinquished the lead en route to claiming the first frame. UNI did get to within 17-14 approaching the late stages of the set, but a five-point run on the serve of Lilly Merk (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South Vigo) secured the opener.
• It was again the Beacons on the front foot in the first half of set two, as Valpo held as much as a four-point lead as the set passed the midway point. UNI responded with its first sustained pressure of the match, reeling off seven straight points to go ahead 17-14.
• After trading sideouts, it was Valpo's turn to put together a run, scoring five in a row — including two kills and a block from Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) — to pull back in front, 20-18. Consecutive sideouts maintained a two-point Beacon lead at 21-19 before the Panthers scored six of the final seven points of the set to tie the match.
• Valpo again controlled the beginning of the third set and pulled out to a seven-point lead at 14-7. But just when it looked like it might be the Beacons taking a 2-1 lead into the fourth, the Panthers came back with 13 of the next 16 points to turn the seven-point deficit into a three-point lead at 20-17. Valpo got back to within one point at 23-22, but could not get over the hump as UNI took the lead into the fourth set.
• Unlike the first three sets, it was UNI which controlled from the outset in the fourth frame, and it looked like the Panthers might run away with the win as they led by eight points at 18-10. But much like UNI's third-set run, the Beacons put together a similar stretch, scoring 11 of the next 12 points on the serves of Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) and Mara Thomas (Bogart, Ga./Athens Academy) to take a 21-19 lead.
• The teams traded sideouts to leave Valpo three points from forcing a fifth set before the Panthers scored four in a row — including a service ace which rattled the tape before falling on the Beacons' side — to earn match point at 24-22. Sam Warren (Kentland, Ind./South Newton) recorded a kill to extend the match, and then seemingly had tallied another termination to send the fourth set to extra points. But a UNI challenge resulted in the latter attack being ruled out to close out the match in the Panthers' favor.

 
Inside the Match

• Valpo became the first MVC program to tie or win the total points battle with UNI since Drake in the 2022 MVC title match — a match UNI won 3-2. The Beacons and Panthers both posted 92 points on Saturday.
• Saturday's match came one season after the Beacons led 2-0 before falling in five sets to UNI at the ARC last year — the lone match during the Panthers' current winning streak in regular season action where they've been pushed to five sets.
• While Saturday's matchup was a pairing of the two teams which led the Valley in kills/set, with the programs' defensive reputation, it was no surprise that the match became a defensive struggle.
• The Beacons tallied 13 team blocks in limiting UNI to .101 hitting, the Panthers' lowest hitting percentage against an MVC foe since Valpo held UNI to .058 hitting in a Valpo win at the ARC March 15, 2021.
• Valpo tallied just 49 kills on Saturday, having entered the match averaging better than 14 kills/set. The Beacons trailed UNI by five in the kills category, but that was mitigated by the Panthers committing 35 total attack errors to Valpo's 30.
• Warren paced Valpo's defensive effort at the net with a career-best eight blocks, while Pickett tallied six and Merk was part of five rejections.
• In the back row, Hickey tied for match-high honors with 23 digs and Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall) was just one off her career best with 21 digs.
• Addy Kois (Osceola, Ind./Penn) recorded the 17^th double-double of her career with 26 assists and 10 digs, while Thomas finished with her 20^th career double-double.
• Known for her defensive work, Pickett led the way on the attack for the Beacons on Saturday, matching her career high with 12 kills on .308 hitting. It was just the second time in her career she has paced Valpo in the kills department.

 
Next Up
Valpo (10-5, 1-1 MVC) will go on the road for its next four MVC matches, starting next Friday, Oct. 3 at Illinois State.