Friendship Blossoms for Sophomore Volleyball Players

When it comes to sports, friendships are important. None is more inseparable than that of Emily and Lexie.

"We've only known each other for two years," Emily said. "Those two years have been the best two years so far," Lexie added. A common bond turned them into friends.

"We have both been playing since high school," they said.

"Besides athletics, the small campus size and academics made me want to come here," Emily said.

"It was disappointing when the winning streak ended," they told me. "We knew we were not going to let it get to us."

"Knowing the team is known for winning at least 20 games each season is definitely motivation," they said.

"The preseason tournaments definitely showed us what needed improvement," they said.

When asked if they could win the regular season and host the conference tournament, both said it was definitely possible. "We need to think big and think about winning the tournament," they said.

Whether either happens is yet to be seen.

At this rate, it certainly is a possibility the team could get a berth in the NCAA tournament.

Women Still looking for Home Win

Playing in their Horizon League opener against Youngstown State, the women's basketball team was still searching for their first win at home. With high expectations, the girls are not going to give up. I caught up with Jessi Wiedemann and Jessica Carr after the game to get their reaction. 

Jessi's mindset was to improve from the preseason since it was their first conference game. Jessica's mindset was very focused and she felt confident in the team. Unable to gain any lead, the Crusaders were down by six going into halftime. When asked if they could have won the game, both players felt confident. 

"We were confident coming out for the second half. Both sides came out strong," Jessi said. 

"At halftime, we definitely thought we could pull off a win since we hadn't played to our best potential," Jessica said. 

Despite having only two wins so far, both players felt the team could turn things around and contend for a first-round match at home. When asked about this, Jessi said that she hoped the team could since they were changing things up. Jessica said that they were shooting for at least ten wins and the great thing about the conference is the tournament is fair game. 

Playing time definitely took its toll as the team was down to only nine healthy players. I asked Jessi and Jessica about this and how it affected their playing time. "Liz, Lexi, and Aliyah are about to come back, so that will make things easier," Jessi told me.

Jessica agreed to an extent. "Having only nine healthy players greatly affects playing time. Everyone has to step up and play a lot. This is good since we gain experience and play through our mistakes.

However, it also demands that everyone be healthy. Having fewer of us makes it easier to be on the same page, but it would be nice to have everyone back healthy."

One of the biggest questions is whether the team can contend for a .500 season. This was a tough question to ask since the team was obviously struggling. Jessi told me that since they've already played about half of their games, it was likely impossible but definitely achievable. Jessica told me that they can contend if they turn things around right now. She thought that by the time the conference tournament rolls around, everyone will have pulled together and would be playing at their very best. 

Crusaders Fall To Detroit

Playing in its first ever Horizon League Championship, Valpo hoped to carry the momentum from its win over Butler into the game against Detroit. The game became a tale of two halves.  Six minutes into the first half, the Crusaders took a six to five lead and would not look back. However, an 11-0 run by the Titans in the second half saw the Titans take a 36-31 lead and put any hopes of a conference championship for Valpo away. 

The first half saw Valpo trail by three early on. But, a seven-0 run with 14:00 to play saw a 15-seven lead for the Crusaders that they would not relinquish. After another 8-7 Crusader run, and with 6:30 to play, Detroit was forced to call a timeout. This would allow the Titans to ultimately trim the deficit to 27-24 at the half. 

Valpo would take an early 31-25 lead in the second half, but an 11-0 run by Detroit would turn the tables in the Titans’ favor. With just over ten minutes to play in the second half, Ryan Broekhoff nailed a three-pointer to cut the Titans’ lead to 40-37. Another 12-0 run by Detroit extended the lead to 54-42, and put the game away for good. 

Despite the loss, the Crusaders are guaranteed a berth in the National Invitational Tournament as the regular season champions. While the magic of 1998 is gone, a deep run in the NIT is still possible. The Crusaders find out their destination and opponent at 8 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU.

The only other appearance in the NIT came in 2003, where Valpo lost to Iowa in the opening round.

Butler Loses Third Straight to Valpo

February 24 was a night many Crusader fans will not forget. Having already clinched the regular season title outright, the Bulldogs were the final victory needed to secure the top seed in the standings. The game would turn out to be nothing short of a thriller as the Crusaders jumped out to an early 10 point lead and never looked back.

Going wire-to-wire, Valpo never let Butler get any closer than six points. This was also helped by a technical foul on the Butler bench and one of their better players fouling out. Two more of their players would also end up with four fouls as well.

After the game, the celebration began with Ryan “Rowdy” Broekhoff accepting the Regular Season Championship Trophy. The celebration continued in the locker room. Sophomore guard Jay Harris said that everyone was jumping around and having a good time.

When asked about what it was like to sweep Butler, senior Nick Shelton said, “Butler’s always the team you want to beat. It was exciting to finally be able to sweep them.”

Jay Harris echoed the same. “Butler’s always good, so it’s a great feeling to beat them.”

This is the first time since joining the Horizon League that the team has won the regular season outright. The Crusaders also have secured a double bye into Saturday’s semi-final against Milwaukee or Butler.

Will the magic of 1998 be repeated or will an NIT berth await them? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure though, and that this team is not who everyone thought they were.