DePaul University

Valparaiso 3, DePaul 0 

Illinois-Chicago 3, DePaul 0 

CHICAGO – The DePaul volleyball team closed out the Chicagoland Classic on Saturday, falling to Valparaiso and Illinois-Chicago at the Flames Athletic Center.  In the afternoon matinee, the Blue Demons fell to Valparaiso 3-0 (30-21, 30-21, 30-25) and tournament host Illinois-Chicago topped DePaul 3-0 (30-18, 33-31, 30-20) in the evening match. 

The Blue Demons (0-3) were paced by seniors Ellen Hayes and Morgan Ingersoll during the two-day tournament.  Hayes led DePaul with 28 kills for a .214 attack percentage and chipped in 28 digs. Ingersoll tallied 26 kills and was credited with five total blocks.

Valparaiso 3, DePaul 0  

Saturday's afternoon match between the Blue Demons and Crusaders was highlighted with hard hitting and big blocks.  Ingersoll led the Blue Demons with a .207 attack percentage, while junior Aly Zavitz chipped in four total blocks. The Crusaders offense sizzled, hitting .235.  The team and was led by Jessie Fox, who knocked down 11 kills for a .435 attack percentage.  

Valparaiso (2-0) jumped to an early lead in game one as hitting errors plagued the Blue Demon offense.  Senior Ellen Hayes sparked DePaul's offense with a kill at the 10-17 mark. The Blue Demons continued to chip away at the lead and pulled within five at the 23-18 mark on back-to-back Crusader hitting errors.  The early deficit, however, was too much to overcome and Valparaiso won the first game 30-21.

The Blue Demons and Crusaders traded points early in game two.   The game was tied five times and there were three lead changes.  DePaul took a 13-12 advantage on Ingersoll's service ace, but Valparaiso put together a 10-3 run and pulled ahead 22-15.  The Crusader's offense continued to mesh and they won game two 30-22. 

DePaul had its best offensive output in game three, hitting a season high .231 and tallied 13 kills.  Valpo matched the Blue Demons effort and won game three 30-25.  The game again saw the two teams trade points early before Valparaiso opened up a 22-13 advantage.  The Blue Demons clawed their way back into the game on a 7-1 run that culminated on Ingersoll's kill and cut the lead to 21-26.  However, the early deficit again proved too much to overcome.

Valparaiso's Angie Porche led all players with 12 kills and Brittany Marks notched 19 digs.

DePaul's Stay Pando and Caitlin Callaghan paced the Blue Demons defense with 11 and 10 digs, respectively.

Illinois-Chicago 3, DePaul 0 

The Blue Demons came into the game one swinging hard and playing through long rallies but the Flames answered DePaul's energy with 22 kills and a 30-18 victory.  Ambria Springer guided the Flames, registering seven kills and a .357 attack percentage.

DePaul capitalized on early UIC hitting errors and jumped out to a 12-8 lead in game two. The Flames fell behind by as many as seven points but battled back to tie the game at 17 and rallied off four straight points to force a Blue Demon timeout at 20-17. 

Following the timeout DePaul used a balanced attack to tie the game at 25.  DePaul seniors, Denae Gibson, Ingersoll and Hayes put the team on their shoulders in the closing points of the game two. The trio combined for six timely kills and were key to keeping the Blue Demons alive, however the Flames thwarted DePaul's comeback winning the marathon game 33-31. Both Hayes and Ingersoll finished game-two with five kills.  Hayes also chipped in a team-high eight digs.

Carrying the momentum from game-two the Flames (2-1) opened up an early lead and never looked back, winning game three 30-20.

UIC had four players, Amanda Kenney, Katarin Nedeljkovic, Katie Kozak and Springer all finished with double digit kill totals.  Kenny led all players with 16 kills and 18 digs.

Hayes paced the Blue Demons with 11 kills and chipped in 11 digs.  Freshman libero Sarah Cullen notched 18 digs and freshman setter Emily McGinnis added 12 digs.

The Blue Demons travel to Houston, Texas to participate in the Rice Invitational September 1-2.  DePaul faces host Rice on Friday at 7:00 p.m., and Illinois State and Texas-San Antonio on Saturday. Live stats will be provided for all matches.