Valparaiso and Butler advance on First Day of Volleyball Tournament

The bracket held true on the first day of the Horizon League Volleyball Tournament at the Klotsche Center in Milwaukee, Wis., as higher seeds Valparaiso and Butler advanced. The tournament continues Saturday with two semifinal matches starting at 3:30 p.m. ET. All matches at the Horizon League tournament can be seen on the Horizon League Network.

No. 4 Valparaiso 3, No. 5 UIC 0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-17)

The Crusaders (20-13) advanced to the semifinals with a 3-0 win over UIC in the first quarterfinal match of the evening. Valpo was efficient on offense as the Crusaders committed only nine attack errors and hit .306 for the match. Valparaiso was at its best in the second set when it hit .395 and did not commit an error in 38 attempts.

Sophomore Ellen Vanden Berg had a hitting percentage of .833 as she had 10 kills, with no attack errors, in 12 attempts. Katie Britton led the Crusaders with 11 kills. Jenny Pokorny had a match-high 34 assists, while two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Taylor Root, had a match-high 23 kills.

UIC was led by All-League member Kelsey Safranek who had a team-high 11 kills. MaryKate Imrie contributed 33 assists. The Flames hit just .159 for the match.

The win is Valpo’s 20^th of the season, its 10^th consecutive season with 20 or more victories. The Crusaders will face top-seed and host Milwaukee in the first semifinal tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. ET.

No. 3 Butler 3, No. 6 Green Bay 1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-16, 25-23)

Butler’s defense was the difference in the second quarterfinals match as the Bulldogs held Green Bay to a .098 hitting percentage in their 3-1 win.

Maureen Bamiro led the Bulldogs with 15 kills and a .600 hitting percentage. Belle Obert also reached double-figures in kills with 10. Gina Vera had 36 assists, while Kelly Kyle, one of three Bulldogs to reach double-figures in digs, had a team-high 17.

Leah Van Zeeland had a match-high 18 kills for the Phoenix who could never get on track in the 3^rd and 4^th sets, hitting just .039 in the final two sets. Brittany Groth, the conference leader in digs, had a match-high 24 for Green Bay.

Butler advances to the semifinals where it will meet second-seed Cleveland State at 6 p.m. ET.