VALPARAISO, Ind. – After falling to Valparaiso in straight sets on Sunday, Sycamore women's volleyball used a balanced offensive attack to earn a 3-1 [23-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-20] victory and win their first match against Valpo since 2017.
 
Indiana State (7-10, 7-9 MVC) secured a spot in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with their victory on Monday and will be making their first appearance in the tournament since 2017. Their win also came against a Valparaiso team that was hot in the conference, winning seven of their last eight.
 
The Sycamores dominated every aspect of the game on Monday after a slow start. Offensively, four Trees finished with at least 10 kills on the evening. Sophomore Gretchen Kuckkan led the charge with 14 kills while Taylor Shelton (12), Mallory Keller (11) and Madeline Williams (11) all helped the Sycamores to a 60-56 advantage in kills. As a squad, ISU hit .240 for the match.
 
In addition to performing well offensively, Shelton earned a double-double with 17 digs and one block assist. The sophomore also hit .357 for the match. Chloe Mason also put together a double-double performance, ending with a team-best 29 assists and 17 digs.
 
Defensively the Sycamores spread the wealth. Melina Tedrow tallied 20 digs to lead the Trees, but Mason (17), Shelton (17) and Ashley Eck (15) contributed to a 93-90 dig advantage over the opposition for 23.25 digs per set.
 
It was all Indiana State at the net on Monday, led by Williams and freshman Jamie Brown who both ended with five total blocks. Fellow freshman Karinna Gall tallied four blocks and Mallory Keller contributed three while ISU owned a 10-4 block advantage at the net.
 
Valparaiso (10-8, 9-7 MVC) was led by the Buhlman sisters as Jaclyn ended with 19 kills and Victoria earned 46 assists and 28 digs.
 
The first set featured plenty of highs and lows for the Trees. Indiana State opened the match quickly, using two kills from Gall to help open up a 4-1 lead. The opposition would put their foot down, eventually opening up a 21-16 lead before ISU managed to shrink the lead to 24-23, partially thanks to two kills and a block from Williams. Despite falling in the opening frame, the Trees got four kills each from Williams and Kuckkan while hitting .325.
 
Set two saw the Sycamores pick up their first set victory over the Brown & Gold since 2017, ending with a 25-22 win. Finding themselves trailing 22-21 late in the frame, Williams put the pressure on Valparaiso and used back-to-back kills to give the Sycamores the lead, helping ISU to end the set on a 4-0 run. In all, set two featured 10 ties and five lead changes.
 
Valpo began set three on a tear, pulling away early for a 6-1 lead. A 6-0 run minutes later from the Sycamores, helped by two block assists from Keller, pushed the Sycamores in front with an 11-9 lead. Despite three ties, the Blue & White didn't trail again in the set, winning the game running away at 25-17. Shelton's offense helped propel the Sycamores in the frame with three kills of her own.
 
The fourth and final frame followed the trends of earlier sets with Valpo earning the lead early, almost immediately going up 3-1. Following a back-and-forth affair early, the Trees used 5-0 run to pull ahead to a 13-7 advantage and never looked back. Partially responsible for the offensive success in the fourth set was Kuckkan who ended with five kills in the set.
 
Indiana State will return home next Saturday and Sunday (Mar. 27-28) for senior weekend and the final regular season series of the year when they host Missouri State in the ISU Arena.
 
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.