Saturday, November 26, 2005

The Valparaiso University volleyball closed out the regular season Saturday night, falling 3-0 to Marquette at the MU Battle for the Bird in Milwaukee, Wis. The Crusaders season is not over, however, and they will find out who their first round NCAA Tournament opponent will be Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

The host Golden Eagles came out hot Saturday night, hitting .318 in the first game and beating the Crusaders 30-25. They stepped up defensively in games two and three, holding Valpo to a hitting percentage under .131 in each game. Jamie Mueller and Kimberly Todd led Marquette with 15 kills apiece.

As for Valpo, they had three players record double-digit kills, led by 13 from Lauren Moulton (Elgin, Ill./Larkin) who had 30 kills at the two-day event. Moulton hit .500 Saturday, with only one attack error, after hitting .536 in Friday's win over Fairfield. Jessi Novak (Antigo, Wis./Antigo) and Tiffany Meikle (Cottage Grove, Wis./Monona Grove) added 11 kills each for the Brown and Gold, who hit only .158 overall for the match.

Defensively, freshman Brittany Marks (Elkhart, Ind./Memorial) again led the way with 15 digs, and Alex Chism (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) had ten digs of her own. The Crusaders also had seven blocks in the match, led by four from Jessie Fox (Granger, Ind./Penn).

Both Moulton and Katie Bova (Milwaukee, Wis./Divine Savior Holy Angels), who had 90 assists in the two matches, were named to the MU Battle for the Bird All-Tournament Team. Western Michigan's Jennifer Sulewski was named the Most Valuable Player.

Marquette (17-13) finishes their season with a win at home after dropping their opening game Friday to Western Michigan.

Valpo (27-7) will watch their NCAA Tournament opponent unveiled Sunday afternoon at Buffalouie's Restaurant in Valparaiso. Players, coaches and administrators will gather at 1:00 p.m. to watch the announcement, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on ESPNews.

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