Sunday, September 10, 2006

Valpo closed out their first trip to the state of Iowa since 1995 with a win, knocking off Drake 30-25, 30-25, 30-25 in Des Moines Saturday night behind a record-breaking night from sophomore Brittany Marks (Elkhart, Ind./Memorial).

The Crusaders won their final of three weekend matches in the Hawkeye State, recovering from a pair of losses at the Cyclone Classic Friday night and Saturday morning. And Marks broke a nearly 16-year-old record with one of the best defensive nights in school history.

Marks tallied 30 digs in the three-game match, one better than the 29 Karen Kulick totaled against Evansville on September 29, 1990. Marks had seven more digs than the rest of the Valpo team and had 16 more digs than any other player on either team. The sophomore's 30 digs were also a career-high, and Marks is now averaging a team-best 5.24 digs per game.

As for the rest of the Valpo team, the Crusaders put together their best all-around effort of the weekend, hitting .258 for the match and led again by freshman Angie Porche (Lynwood, Ill./Thornton-Fractional South) who had a match-high 16 kills, hitting .324. The 5'9" outside hitter leads the Brown and Gold with 132 kills and has recorded double-digit kills in nine of ten matches this season.

Allison Sears (Elkhart, Ind./Memorial) also had a strong offensive match with 12 kills, while freshman Val Bollenbacher (Bremen, Ind./Bremen) had a career night with nine kills, five more than she had all season coming in.

Eve Johnson led Drake (2-7) with 13 kills and Megan Veltman added 10. Valpo limited the Bulldogs to only a .101 hitting percentage, and Drake made 25 attack errors, including 11 in game one.

Valpo (5-5) will take part in a fourth in-season tournament of the year next weekend at the Catamount Clash V Tournament in Cullowhee, N.C. The Crusaders will take on High Point September 15 at 9:00 a.m. before squaring off with Kennesaw State at 3:30 p.m. that afternoon. Both matches will be carried live on 95.1 FM and online at www.valpo.edu/athletics.

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