Saturday, October 14, 2006

Val Bollenbacher (Bremen, Ind./Bremen) had a career-high 16 kills and the Brown and Gold hit .454 as Valpo clobbered Chicago State 30-14, 30-13, 30-12 Saturday night at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

Bollenbacher's 16 kills shattered her previous high of 10 and the freshman added seven kills and two blocks in the win. Bollenbacher hit .481, but had only the fifth-highest hitting percentage among the Crusaders. Valpo's .454 hitting percentage for the match was a season best.

Jessie Fox (Granger, Ind./Penn) was again sensational offensively, racking up 12 kills, the ninth straight match the senior has reached double-digits. More impressive, however, was Fox's accuracy Saturday. The two-time All-Conference star had her 12 kills on only 18 attacks and did so without an error, good for a .667 attacking mark, the best single-match percentage carded by any Crusader season.

Allison Sears (Elkhart, Ind./Memorial) also reached double-figures in kills, tallying 11 and hitting a sizzling .562. The sophomore also chipped in a match-high five blocks. Angie Porché (Lynwood, Ill./Thornton-Fractional South) and Nicole Schulz (Kewaskum, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) each also hit better than .500 on the night.

All 13 Crusaders played in the match, including freshman setter Kim Bukowski (Waukesha, Wis./West). Bukowski was Valpo's primary setter in games two and three and finished with a career-high 31 assists.

On the defensive end, six Crusaders had at least two blocks including Jill Meyer (Crystal Lake, Ill./South) who matched a career-high with four. Valpo had nine blocks as a team and also got 36 digs from nine different players.

Jennifer Hoffman had a team-high five kills for Chicago State (0-23) but her team hit -.013 for the match. The Cougars managed just 18 kills and had only one block.

Valpo (14-7) has a quick turnaround before their next match, Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. against Illinois State at the Athletics-Recreation Center. Live coverage of Tuesday's match is available on 95.1 FM, WVUR, and online at www.valpo.edu/athletics.

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