The Valpo volleyball team was even with visiting Drake Friday evening at the ARC through two sets, but the Bulldogs pulled away in each of the final two sets as the Beacons fell by a 3-1 (25-10, 25-27, 25-16, 25-15) final.

How It Happened

• Valpo was within 9-8 approaching the midway point of the opening set before Drake closed the frame on a 16-2 run to take the 1-0 lead in the match.
• A tight second set which featured 18 ties and eight lead changes was played almost entirely within a four-point span, as the only three-point lead for either squad came when Valpo reeled off four points in a row to go up 22-19. The Bulldogs answered with three in a row to tie things up at 22-22.
• A block by seniors Olivia Blackketter (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North [Winthrop]) and Mallory Januski (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) put the Beacons in front momentarily, and following a Drake kill to make it 23-23, a service error by the Bulldogs gave Valpo set point at 24-23.
• Drake got a kill to force extra points, however. Fifth-year Bella Ravotto (Mishawaka, Ind./Marian) tallied a kill to give the Beacons a second set point opportunity, but again Drake came up with a kill. Finally, Ravotto picked up another termination for a third set point chance at 26-25, and this time, the Beacons were able to finish it off courtesy of a block from Blackketter and fifth-year Miranda Strongman (Wolverine Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Central [LIU]) to even the match at a set apiece.
• Valpo was unable to gain traction in either of the final two sets, however. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 15-6 lead in set three and the Beacons got no closer than five points the rest of the way as Drake went up 2-1 in the match. In the fourth set, Valpo was within 12-10 at the halfway point of the frame before the Bulldogs scored 10 of the next 14 points to take control.

Inside the Match

• While Valpo only trailed Drake by six in the kills department (54-48), the Beacons committed 34 attack errors to the Bulldogs’ 13. Valpo did have an 89-76 advantage in digs.
• After experiencing so much success at the service line in last weekend’s pair of wins, Valpo was limited to one service ace on Friday.
• Ravotto paced the Valpo attack with 12 kills. She also contributed 14 digs, moving past the 1,600-dig mark for her career.
• Redshirt sophomore Sam Warren (Kentland, Ind./South Newton) chipped in nine kills on .412 hitting, while Blackketter was one off her career high as she tallied eight kills. The senior also recorded a team-best six blocks to set a season high.
• Senior Victoria Bulmahn (McCordsville, Ind./Mt. Vernon) joined Ravotto in finishing the night with a double-double, picking up 24 assists and 14 digs.
• Sophomore Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) led the back row effort with 24 digs, in the process moving up two more spots on the Beacons’ career chart in the category. With at least three matches remaining in her second season at Valpo, Hickey already sits 15^th in program history with 1,294 career digs.
• While Ravotto, Hickey and Bulmahn already each own at least 1,000 career digs, that group is poised to become a quartet on Saturday. Junior Elise Swistek (LaPorte, Ind./New Prairie) racked up 22 digs on Friday and needs just one dig to hit four figures for her career.
• Januski was part of five of Valpo’s eight rejections on Friday. The senior moved into triple digits in blocks this season with her third block of the night.

Next Up

Valpo (18-11, 10-6 MVC) hosts the Valley regular season champions to close out its 2023 home slate for Senior Night on Saturday as UNI comes to town. First serve is at 6 p.m., and following the match, the program will honor its senior class.