The quest for the Horizon League’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament begins Friday afternoon inside the Klotsche Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Here’s a look at the two matches to be played on Friday.
No. 5 UIC (14-14, 7-9) vs. No. 4 Valparaiso (19-13, 9-7) – Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET
Season Results: Sept. 14 – Valparaiso 3, UIC 0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-13); Oct. 14 – Valparaiso 3, UIC 0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-21)
The tournament opens Friday with the fourth-seeded Crusaders facing the fifth-seeded Flames in a quarterfinals match. Valparaiso won both regular season matches 3-0.
The Crusaders are led by two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Taylor Root. The junior has been named Defensive Player of the Week eight times in her career, a league record, and also is the League’s career leader in digs with 1,930. This season, Root finished second in the conference, averaging 5.37 digs per set. Freshman Morgan Beil was on the All-League and All-Newcomer team this season. She enters postseason play ranked fifth in the conference with a .291 hitting percentage.
The Flames are led by junior All-League member Kelsey Safranek. Safranek led the conference this season in kills, averaging 4.42 per set. Her 455 kills for the season is 70 more than second place. Freshman Sara Sternard, a member of the All-Newcomer team, led the Flames with a .278 hitting percentage.
No. 6 Green Bay (11-17, 7-9) vs. No. 3 Butler (15-13, 11-5) – Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET
Season Results: Oct. 9 – Butler 3, Green Bay 0 (25-21, 27-25, 25-21); Nov. 3 – Butler 3, Green Bay 2 (25-22, 25-19, 23-25, 21-25, 15-10)
Butler and Green Bay finish Friday’s quarterfinals action as they faceoff in the nightcap.
Aside from regular season champion Milwaukee, who went undefeated in the regular season, no team in the league is as hot as the Bulldogs. Butler has won 10 of its last 11 matches as the Bulldogs have stepped up their defense. In Butler's last 11 matches, the Bulldogs are holding opponents to a .134 hitting percentage, while also averaging 3.20 block per set. Butler was represented on the All-League team by senior Maureen Bamiro and sophomore Maggie Harbison. The Bulldogs also had three of the seven players on the All-Newcomer team as freshmen Brooke Ruffolo, Belle Obert and Kelly Kyle were honored.
Green Bay had two players on the All-League team for the first time since 2005 as senior Abbey Gitter and junior Brittany Groth were honored. Groth led the conference in digs, and ranks 10th in the country, averaging 5.75 digs per set. This season, Groth has set match and season records for digs. Her 35 digs against Loyola are the most in school history in a four-set match and her 632 digs on the season are the most in a single season in school history, and the fourth most in a single season by a Horizon League player. Gitter is Green Bay’s top offensive player as she had 313 kills this season, an average of 2.87 per set.
Top-seed Milwaukee and second-seed Cleveland State both received byes into the semifinals. Milwaukee will start things Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET when they face the highest seeded team remaining. Cleveland State will play at 6:00 p.m. Saturday against the lowest-seeded team remaining from the quarterfinals. All matches in the Horizon League tournament can be seen on the Horizon League network.
