Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Butler volleyball team improved to 8-4 overall after sweeping the competition in the 2016 Butler Classic. BU defeated Tennessee State (3-0) and Murray State (3-1) on Friday and ended the tournament on Saturday with a clean 3-0 sweep over the Wright State Raiders (25-20, 25-13, 25-15).

Whitney Beck and Jessica Klingensmith each provided Butler with double digit kill totals while Taylor Takeda lifted the defense with a team-high 10 digs. BU hit .407 as a team and dominated the action at the net to post nine team blocks.

Klingensmith had one of her best games of the season with 10 kills and a team-high six blocks. She took 13 total swings on Saturday night and only commited one error to post a .692 attack percentage.Kai Jarema was also extremly efficient up the middle with six kills off eight attempts.

Makayla Ferguson got Butler off to a fast start in the opening set by recording a service ace for the first point of the night. Moments later, Butler opened up a 4-0 lead forcing the Raiders to call timeout.
 
Wright State scored out of the stoppage and went on a run of their own to get within a point of BU 7-6. The Bulldogs pushed forward to take a 16-11 lead before the second timeout of the set by Wright State. The strategy wouldn't slow down the BU attack as Butler came out on top 25-20 in the opener.
 
Ferguson scored the first and last point of the first set against the Raiders. Her third kill of the match would come down in the back corner of the court to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 edge.
 
The first three points of set two would also go to Butler allowing the Bulldogs to jump out to a comfortable lead. Wright State would burn a timeout facing a 7-1 deficit, and a BU block out of the break would keep the momentum with Butler.
 
Wright State used their final timeout of the set with Butler up on the scoreboard 11-2. Butler would never let go of the lead to move ahead in the match 2-0.

The song remained the same for Butler in set three with Ferguson serving the first four points of the set for Butler. Wright State would hang around, but a strong showing from Jessica Klingensmith would put Butler up 15-9 near the midway point.
 
The Raiders would score three-straight out of their timeout to pull within three, but Brooke Gregory would put an end to that run with a kill to the far side of the court. Anna Logan followed with a service ace to extend the BU lead and the Bulldogs would sprint to the finish line to secure their eighth win of the year.

Butler will return to Hinkle Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Sept. 13 to host the Indiana State Sycamores at 6 PM. The match will feature free admission to all fans courtesy of PPG Paints. The midweek matchup will help prepare the Bulldogs for the Butler Invitational which will run at Hinkle from Sept. 16-17. Northern Kentucky, Loyola and Arizona will make up the field for the round robin tournament.

2016 Butler Classic All-Tournament Team
MVP - Makayla Ferguson - Butler
Anna Logan - Butler
Brooke Gregory - Butler
Megan Hopkins - Wright State
Scottie Ingram - Murray State
Chloe Watson - Tennessee State