Valparaiso University

The Valpo volleyball team used a late rally to earn an opening-set win over visiting Belmont Friday evening at the ARC in the MVC opener for both squads, but an attempt at a similar rally in set two was thwarted by the Bruins and the visitors went on to pick up a 3-1 (27-29, 25-21, 25-19, 25-16) win.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo trailed by as many as five points in the opening set, but worked its way back to tie the set at 20-20 — its first tie since early in the frame. Belmont scored the next two before the Beacons answered with back-to-back points of their own to make it 22-22.
• The Bruins scored the next two points to earn set point at 24-22, but Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) recorded consecutive kills to hold off two set points. Valpo then earned its first chance to take the opener as Olivia Wagner (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South) registered a kill.
• Belmont extended the set with a kill, and while Valpo earned another set point chance on a block by Pickett and Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall), a block by the Bruins tied the score at 26-26. The Bruins then looked to claim momentum as they took a rally which lasted nearly a full minute to earn their third set point opportunity at 27-26.
• Pickett came up with yet another big kill late to force further points, and after a Belmont hitting error gave the Beacons their third set point, Maggie Uhwat (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond Burton Community [Central Michigan]) came through with a kill to give Valpo the opener.
• Valpo tried to put together an even bigger rally in set two. The Beacons trailed by seven on multiple occasions, the latest coming at 19-12. At that point, they reeled off an 8-1 run — including two kills apiece by Helming and Uhwat — to tie the score at 20-20 for a second straight set.
• Unlike the opener, however, Belmont went on a run of its own at that point, scoring five of the set's final six points to level the match.
• Early deficits were too much for the Beacons to overcome in the final two sets. Valpo took a timeout trailing 7-3 in set three and was unable to get any closer than two points, while in the fourth set, the Beacons found themselves down 10-3 and got no closer than four points the rest of the way.

 
Inside the Match

• Helming and Uhwat tied for team-high honors with 14 kills, the latter matching her career best set last weekend against Le Moyne.
• Gove joined the aforementioned duo in double figures in kills, posting 11 terminations.
• While the trio of Valpo attackers all posted at least 11 kills, the Bruins held the three of them to a combined .147 hitting percentage.
• Pickett nearly made it four Beacons in double figures in kills, posting nine kills on .364 hitting.
• Gove recorded her eighth double-double of the season as she led Valpo with a career-best 26 digs. The junior's previous career high of 22 came last season at Northwestern, the only other time she has hit the 20-dig mark in her career.
• Rylee Bumgardner (Danville, Ind./Danville) was right behind Gove with 25 digs, the second-best effort of her freshman campaign.
• Wagner dished out a team-high 24 assists and came up just shy of her second double-double of the season, posting nine digs, while Mia McCall (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) tallied 13 assists and a career-high six digs.
• Belmont held a slim 62-58 advantage in the kills column, but the Bruins hit .250 to the Beacons' .179 clip.

 
Next Up
Valpo (8-5, 0-1 MVC) returns to the court of the ARC Saturday night, taking on Illinois State at 7 p.m.