The Valpo volleyball team finished up the non-conference portion of its 2019 season on Tuesday evening in Milwaukee, Wis., falling to host Milwaukee 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-21). Valpo opens MVC play this Friday night at Loyola.
How It Happened
- Milwaukee seized control of the opening set with an early 10-2 run, and Valpo would get no closer than five points the rest of the way.
- Valpo scored the first four points of the second frame to jump out to a quick lead. But the Panthers scored four straight with Valpo holding an 8-6 lead to take the advantage, and later, with the score tied at 12-all, Milwaukee went on a 10-3 run to pull away.
- Valpo led throughout the first half of set three, passing the halfway point during a 7-2 run which gave it a 15-10 lead.
- The lead was still five points at 17-12 before the Panthers put together a big spurt, reeling off eight consecutive points to go ahead 20-17. Valpo was unable to string two straight points together the rest of the way as Milwaukee closed out the sweep.
Inside the Match
- Valpo closed out its non-conference slate with two straight matches against the Panthers due to a scheduling quirk. The Crusaders already had this one-off match with Milwaukee scheduled before securing their final pre-conference tournament, which ended up pitting the two squads against each other on Saturday as well.
- With the two meetings in the last four days, Valpo and Milwaukee have now faced off on 46 occasions. Valpo has only faced UIC (55 matchups) more often in program history, while it has also matched up against Chicago State and Loyola 46 times apiece.
- Junior Jaclyn Bulmahn (McCordsville, Ind./Mt. Vernon) led Valpo offensively on Tuesday with 10 kills on .308 hitting.
- Freshman Kara Cooper (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) paced all players with four blocks and added five kills on just 12 swings without committing an attack error as well.
- Junior Brittany Anderson (East Chicago, Ind./Bishop Noll) handed out 23 assists and chipped in seven digs, while fellow junior Rylee Cookerly (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) led Valpo with 13 digs.
- A pair of freshmen made their Valpo debuts on Tuesday evening – outside hitters Maddy Boyer (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) and Nicki Bechtold (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East). With the appearances by that duo, 17 of Valpo’s 19 players have now seen action this season.
Next Up
Valpo (5-9) opens up Missouri Valley Conference play Friday night at 6 p.m. at Loyola. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
