Valparaiso University

Combine a setter taking full advantage of playing in a 5-1 for the first time in her collegiate career and two attackers racking up kill after kill, and you have the ingredients for one of the top offensive performances in recent history for the Valpo volleyball team, which continued Popcorn Classic action Saturday with a 3-1 (25-20, 26-28, 25-16, 25-17) victory over Oakland.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo was in front for most of the opening set and enjoyed a six-point lead on a pair of occasions, the later at 17-11. Oakland rallied to within 19-18 before Maggie Uhwat (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond Burton Community [Central Michigan]) came up with consecutive kills to give the Beacons some breathing room, and eventually, Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) and Maddie Steele (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin) combined on a block on the first set point chance to give Valpo the opener.
• The Beacons held as much as a four-point lead in the first half of the second set, but the Golden Grizzlies used a 4-0 run just past the midway mark to take a 17-16 lead and set up a back-and-forth remainder of the frame.
• Valpo had a pair of set points at 24-23 and 25-24, but was unable to convert on either. Oakland's first set point at 26-25 was thwarted by an Uhwat kill, but the Grizzlies came back with back-to-back points to level the match at one set apiece.
• The story of the third set was the play of Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall), who needed just 12 swings to rack up nine kills in a frame which Valpo led nearly the entire way. It was only a two-point edge at 16-14, however, before a four-point spurt which included two Gove kills made it 20-14. That kicked off a larger 9-2 run to end the set, fittingly capped by another Gove kill to put Valpo up 2-1 in the match.
• The Beacons took the lead for good early in the fourth set despite resistance from Oakland, as the Grizzlies made a pair of runs throughout the set to close to within two after Valpo had gained a significant edge. The latter, which cut Valpo's lead to 19-17, was halted by a Gove kill, and Helming stepped back to the service line and served out the match.

 
Inside the Match

• It was simply a standout performance from the setter position for Olivia Wagner (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South) on Saturday evening. The sophomore dished out 57 assists, tied for second-most in a four-set match by a Valpo player in the 25-point era and just one shy of the record.
• With Valpo playing almost exclusively a 6-2 in recent years, Wagner's assist total was the program's highest since Victoria Bulmahn tallied 57 assists at Drake March 1, 2021.
• It wasn't just her assist total, it was Wagner's efficiency – she ended the night with a setting percentage (assists divided by total set attempts) of .514. Any match over .500 in the setting percentage category is stellar.
• Wagner's 57 assists on Saturday more than doubled her collegiate career total, as she entered the night with 55 assists to her name.
• Playing all the way around, Wagner recorded a career-high 10 digs to finish with her first collegiate double-double. She also picked up a pair of kills and was in on two blocks, including a solo stuff to end the match.
• On the other end of Wagner's sets more often than not were Helming and Gove, and both juniors took full advantage. Helming posted a career-high 24 kills, surpassing her previous best set last weekend — the fifth effort of at least 20 kills of her career. 16 of Helming's 24 terminations came in the first two sets.
• Helming's 24 kills just missed the program's top-five chart for a four-set match in the 25-point era. It also marked the most by a Valpo player in any length match since Gretchen Kuckkan put up 25 kills against Northern Illinois Sept. 3, 2022 — ironically, also part of that year's Popcorn Classic.
• Not far behind Helming was Gove, who also went past a career high set last weekend as she hit .340 with 22 kills.
• Helming and Gove became the first pair of Valpo players to each hit 20 kills in the same match since Feb. 14, 2021 against Southern Illinois, when Jaclyn Bulmahn notched 23 kills and Jillie Grant 22.
• Playing all six rotations is old hat for Gove, whose 12 digs gave her the 10^th double-double of her career. But it's something Helming hasn't done to date in her collegiate career, and in doing so on Saturday, she registered 12 digs — resulting not only in the first double-double of her career, but doubling her previous career best in the category.
• Uhwat added 10 kills on just 21 swings to reach double digits in kills for the fourth time this season in five matches.
• Danica Goch (Baroda, Mich./Lakeshore) also set a career best in the digs column with 10, surpassing her previous high of seven, while Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) paced the Beacons with four blocks.
• As a team, Valpo hit .320 with 70 kills — both marks cracking top-five charts. The kill total is tied for second in a four-set match by Valpo in the 25-point era, ironically matching a total against Oakland back on Nov. 21, 2015, while the hitting percentage ranks fourth in a four-set match in the 25-point era.
• Valpo outkilled Oakland by a 70-38 margin, the program's biggest advantage in that department since being +33 (76-43) in a win over Wake Forest Sept. 6, 2008.
• The Beacons' .320 hitting percentage was the fifth-best in program history when compiling at least 70 kills.
• Valpo improved to 24-7 in its all-time series against Oakland and has won both matches against the Golden Grizzlies since joining the MVC in 2017.
• Saturday's tournament matches, which also included a Michigan sweep of Cincinnati, were played at Washington Township H.S. due to court conditions at the ARC thanks to this week's heat wave.

 
Next Up
Valpo (4-1) closes out the Popcorn Classic on Sunday with its B1Ggest challenge of the weekend, facing Michigan at 4 p.m., with Cincinnati and Oakland due to face off prior to that at noon. Should the matches be played at the ARC, there will be live ESPN+ and radio feeds.