Valparaiso University

The Valpo volleyball team closed a perfect weekend with a three-set sweep (27-25, 25-19, 25-20) at Evansville Saturday afternoon.
 
How It Happened

• The Beacons trailed by seven points on multiple occasions in the first set, the latest coming at 14-7, but battled their way back to eventually tie the set at 20-20 and then go in front at 22-21.
• Valpo earned set point at 24-23 on a kill from Maggie Uhwat (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond Burton Community [Central Michigan]) before a block and a kill from Evansville turned the tables and made it 25-24 Aces. Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) combined with Kyla Bellich (Thomson, Ill./Prince of Peace Catholic) on a block to extend the set, and then joined with Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) on a rejection to make it 26-25 Valpo. On its second set point chance, Pickett came up with a kill to delivered the opener to the Beacons.
• The second set was a frame of spurts. Valpo jumped out to an 8-2 lead before Evansville closed to within 10-8, and then after the Beacons pulled away to a 15-9 edge, UE reeled them back in to within 17-16.
• Valpo pulled back out to a 21-17 lead on back-to-back kills by Sarah Pippin (Niles, Mich./Edwardsburg) and kept the Purple Aces at bay from there, with consecutive service aces from Keira Lucas (Brazil, Ind./Northview) closing out the set and giving Valpo a 2-0 lead in the match.
• Valpo hit at a .444 clip in the third set to close out the sweep. The Beacons' lead was just 12-11 approaching the halfway mark of the frame before a 5-1 spurt — including two Pickett kills — pushed the advantage to 17-12. Valpo eased to the sweep from there, closing out the match on its second match point chance thanks to a kill by Uhwat.

 
Inside the Match

• Saturday's win completed a road sweep of the Beacons' in-state conference rivals this weekend and assured Valpo at least a share of this season's unofficial Hoosier State crown, as it completed the season 3-1 against Indiana State and Evansville.
• Valpo has won at least a share of that title in eight of its 10 seasons in the MVC and is a combined 27-11 versus ISU and UE since joining the Valley.
• The Beacons' rally from down seven points to take the first set was their largest comeback to earn a set win this year — they had previously come back from down six points to win sets against Michigan and at Southern Illinois.
• While Valpo had a slight 43-39 advantage in kills, the Beacons' ability to avoid unforced errors was key in a second straight Saturday sweep. They held a .279-.190 edge in hitting percentage and committed just five non-blocked attack errors.
• Pickett led the team in kills for the first time this season and the third time in her career, racking up 11 kills on just 16 swings. Her .625 hitting percentage is a season best by a Valpo player.
• Uhwat reached double figures in kills for the 12^th time this season, finishing with 10 kills on .471 hitting.
• Helming tallied nine kills on .350 hitting and was part of a team-high five blocks. The junior jumped Elise Swistek and Angie Nordquist on Valpo's career kills chart and now ranks 19^th in program history with 1,019 kills.
• Bellich matched her season high with four blocks.
• Mia McCall (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) and Olivia Wagner (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South) each dished out 19 assists in Saturday's sweep, with Wagner doing so on a .528 setting percentage.

 
Next Up
Valpo (14-12, 6-8 MVC) moved up into a tie for sixth place in the MVC standings with Saturday's win, giving itself a shot at qualifying for the MVC Tournament field next weekend. The Beacons open the final weekend of regular season play Friday evening at the ARC at 6 p.m. against Drake.