VALPARAISO, Ind. – Indiana State women's volleyball dropped their series opener with in-state rival Valparaiso in straight sets [21-25, 12-25, 22-25] on Sunday afternoon at the ARC despite strong play from Madeline Williams.
 
Williams was the leader on the court for the Sycamores (6-10, 6-9 MVC), finishing with a team-high 10 kills while hitting .421 to go along with a solo block, four block assists and a dig. Sophomore Gretchen Kucckan came off the bench and provided a spark for ISU, ending with six kills, three digs and a block assist. As a team, the Trees ended with 39 kills while hitting .200.
 
Valparaiso (10-7, 9-6 MVC) was led by Jaclyn Bulmahn with 20 kills and four block assists. Valpo ended the evening with 44 kills on .308 hitting.
 
Defensively, Melina Tedrow continued to lead the Blue & White, getting down for a match-best 19 digs to go with one assist. Taylor Shelton was the lone other Sycamore in double-digit digs, tallying 10 for the Trees. Valparaiso ended the match with a 64-47 advantage in the digs category.
 
The one area where ISU excelled came at the net. Williams' strong performance of five blocks, in addition to Mallory Keller, Kylie Newby and Kaitlyn Hamilton each recording two of their own, helped the Trees to a 7-5 total block advantage over the opposition on the afternoon.
 
Both squads will return to action tomorrow evening at 5 p.m. ET for match two of the series. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Volleyball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.