Valparaiso University

In a match that was a mirror image of the two program's first meeting of the season, the Valpo volleyball team rallied to take the final two sets and held off a match point in the fifth set to earn a 3-2 (25-21, 19-25, 21-25, 25-22, 17-15) win over Indiana State in Terre Haute, Ind. Friday evening. In the first set, junior Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) became the 21^st player in program history to hit the 1,000-kill milestone for her career.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo trailed 3-1 in the decisive fifth set before scoring four in a row, two thanks to kills from Sarah Pippin (Niles, Mich./Edwardsburg), to take a 5-3 lead.
• The Beacons pushed their fifth-set lead to four points at 11-7 on a solo block by Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) and still led by four at 12-8 before a 6-1 ISU run gave the Sycamores match point at 14-13 and forced a Valpo timeout.
• Helming came up with a timeout out of the stoppage to push the decided set into extra points, and a Sycamore error gave Valpo its own match point at 15-14. A hitting error evened the set at 15-all, but the Beacons earned a second match point chance thanks to a kill from Kyla Bellich (Thomson, Ill./Prince of Peace Catholic) and converted on another Helming kill to close out the come-from-behind win.
• Valpo took an opening set which featured 12 ties and seven lead changes, pulling away late as it took an 18-17 lead and eventually won the set 25-21, capped by back-to-back kills from Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall).
• The two sides were tied at 13-13 in the second set before a 4-0 run gave the Sycamores the lead for good to even the match.
• Indiana State led throughout the third set, and while Valpo closed to within 23-21 late in the frame, ISU came up with back-to-back points to take the 2-1 lead in the match.
• The Beacons overcame a 10-4 deficit in the fourth set, putting together a 6-0 run to erase the entirety of the deficit. They took the lead for good with a 6-1 stretch which turned a 13-11 deficit into a 17-14 lead, and while ISU closed to within 23-22 lead, Maggie Uhwat (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond Burton Community [Central Michigan]) and Helming came up with back-to-back kills to force the decisive fifth set.

 
Inside the Match

• Helming registered her second kill of the match at 10-10 of the first set, giving her 1,000 career kills. She is the 21^st player in program history to reach that milestone.
• Helming is only the fifth player in program history to hit that mark in less than three full seasons, joining Angie Porché, Lori Barton, Emily Campbell and Cheri Hughes.
• Valpo won a match after successfully holding off a match point for the first time since its Oct. 19, 2024 win at Belmont.
• Friday was the first time Valpo won after holding off a match point in the fifth set since a win over South Alabama Sept. 4, 2021.
• The Beacons had been 0-3 in five-set matches in MVC play before Friday's victory.
• Valpo's rally from down six points in the fourth set matched its largest deficit in a set it went on to win this season.
• Helming and Gove tied for team-high honors with 12 kills, and both finished the night with double-doubles, as Helming registered a team-best 17 digs and Gove tallied 11 digs.
• Pippin reached double digits in kills for the first time in her career, racking up 10 kills on .320 hitting.
• Keira Lucas (Brazil, Ind./Northview) hit double figures in digs for the sixth time in MVC play with 16 digs, while Pickett led all players with five blocks.
• Valpo held a slim .173-.166 edge in hitting percentage despite facing a 12-kill deficit (49-61), as the Sycamores committed 32 attack errors to the Beacons' 21. Similarly, while ISU delivered 15 service aces to Valpo's three, the Sycamores had 19 service errors versus the Beacons' 10 to narrow the gap in that department.

 
Next Up
Valpo (13-12, 5-8 MVC) closes out its in-state road weekend at 4 p.m. Saturday at Evansville.