Saturday, October 04, 2003

Valparaiso's volleyball team continued its winning ways on Saturday evening, capturing its 15th straight home victory as the Crusaders defeated Western Illinois in three straight games, 30-21, 30-15, 30-25 on Homecoming evening at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

The three straight game wins for the Brown and Gold increased Valpo's stretch of consecutive games won to 15, with the Crusaders last loss coming in game one at DePaul on September 23.

Valpo's offense and defense were both in high gear in the first two games, as the Crusaders hit .298 in game one and .256 in game two, while holding the Westerwinds to .067 hitting in the opener and -.093 in the second game. Both teams hit well in game three with Valpo hitting .341 to Western Illinois' .310.

Michelle Robinson (Bloomington, Ill./Normal H.S.) led the Crusaders with 19 kills while hitting .385 for the match, while Lauren Moulton (Elgin, Ill./Larkin H.S.) added 13 kills and hit .423. Cyndi Norman (Minooka, Ill./Minooka H.S.) added a double-double with 41 assists and 11 digs, while adding five blocks.

Heather Hynds (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein H.S.) tallied eight blocks, while Sara Silcox (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City H.S.) added 13 digs for the Crusaders.

Kali Landis led Western Illinois (3-14, 2-2 Mid-Con) with ten kills and 14 digs, while Jenna Yurs hit .286 with nine kills. Jennifer Alexander added 14 digs and Lisa Suellentrop dished out 27 assists for the Westerwinds.

For the match, Valpo (16-4, 4-0) hit .299 with 54 kills while Western Illinois was held to .078 hitting with 38 kills. The Crusaders registered 64 digs and 11 blocks on the night while the Westerwinds tallied just four blocks and had 56 digs.

Valparaiso will take its perfect conference record on the road next Friday when the Brown and Gold travel to Chicago State for a 7 p.m. match.