The Butler volleyball team is making its first appearance in the Atlantic 10 conference tournament.

The Bulldogs (17-11, 7-7) defeated Saint Louis (10-19, 4-10) three sets to none Saturday night.

The Butler win, combined with a Duquesne victory over George Washington, put the team in sixth place in the A-10. It also gave the Bulldogs the last spot in the post-season tournament.

“I am super happy for my players” coach Sharon Clark said. “They have worked hard all season long, they really put it together and we are peaking at the right time, so I’m thrilled.”

Butler will play Virginia Commonwealth (24-5, 10-4) Friday in the first round of the tournament, hosted by Duquesne University, in Pittsburgh. The Rams swept the Bulldogs in their last meeting in mid-October.

The win against Saint Louis was the Bulldogs’ fifth straight overall, and Butler has won all but one set during its run. Clark said the team will be confident heading into the conference tournament.

“We’re going to get back to work and do the same things we’ve been doing,” Clark said. “Every one of those games is giving us momentum going into the conference tournament.

“We’re in it to win it, and we are going in wanting to win it all.”

The first set against the Billikens last Saturday was evenly-matched in the beginning, with the Billikens holding a small lead. Butler recorded a three-point run to take a 13-12 lead and force a SLU timeout.

Butler was up 19-15 and appeared to be in control until the Billikens came back to tie the set at 21. Down 23-22, Butler was able to win two straight points to make it set point.

Saint Louis fought off two set points, but junior Claire Randich was able to put away the first set on the Bulldog’s third set point.

Butler dominated the beginning of the second set as it jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead.

The Bulldogs continued their dominance out of a timeout, taking five of the next seven points to force another Billikens’ timeout. Following the break, Butler went on another four-point run and would dominate the rest of the set, winning 25-14 to take a 2-0 lead.

Butler led in the early stages of the third set, but Saint Louis was able to pull within one. The Bulldogs would not give up, and they took four of the five next points to take a 14-10 lead.

Butler dominated the rest of the set, taking 11 of 17 points to complete the sweep and earn themselves the conference tournament berth.

“I think that we have a confidence right now that we are rolling off of, and working in practice every single day, and those things are starting to pay off for us,” Clark said.

Leading the Bulldogs was senior Rachel Barber, who had 14 kills. Sophomore Erica Stahl had five blocks, and sophomore Brooke Ruffolo had 21 digs.

The match was the last of Barber’s college career. She is the only senior on the team.

The match Friday against VCU is set to begin at 4:30 p.m.

The Butler Volleyball team (15-11, 5-7) defeated La Salle (4-24, 0-12) in straight sets for its third straight win.

The first set was even in the beginning stages. Butler took a 11-10 lead to force a La Salle timeout, and then took four of the next five to take a 15-11 lead. The Bulldogs went on a four point run later in the set to bring the score to 20-14, and force and Explorer timeout. The Bulldogs closed out the set off a kill by Morgan Peterson.

The Bulldogs nearly held the Explorers to single digits as Butler dominated the entire second set to take a 2-0 lead heading into halftime.

Butler was down 2-5 early in the second set, but the Bulldogs fought back to tie it at five. Later, Butler took seven straight capped by two aces by Stephanie Kranda, and La Salle called a timeout. Butler again went on a run, taking six of seven to force another Explorer timeout. The Bulldogs then outscored La Salle five to three to finish the set and complete the sweep.

“I think serving tonight was great for us” said Sharon Clark, head coach of the Bulldogs. “We did a terrific job of serving really aggressively and the girls did a good job and stuck to it.”

Leading the Bulldogs was Morgan Peterson, who had nine kills, Erica Stahl added six blocks, and Brooke Ruffolo tallied eight digs.

Vs. Temple

The Butler Volleyball team (16-11, 6-7) defeated Temple (17-10, 7-6) three sets to one for their fourth straight win.

Butler started off the first set hot, taking an early 10-5 lead to force a Temple timeout. The Bulldogs continued their dominance out of the timeout, taking nine of 14 to force another Temple timeout. Butler finished out the set with a three point run, capped by an ace by Brooke Ruffolo.

Butler again took an early 9-4 lead before the Owls called a timeout. Butler held a comfortable lead for the rest of the set, and took a 2-0 lead into halftime following a kill by Claire Randich.

In the third set, it was the Owls who took an early 10-5 lead, and later a 13-6 lead to force a Butler timeout. Temple extended their lead to 20-13, and the Butler then called a timeout. The Bulldogs came out of the timeout with a three-point run, and the Owls called a timeout. Butler could not continue their run, as the Owls took the third set 25-20.

Butler dominated the entire fourth set, and held Temple to only eight points. The Bulldogs took 11 of the last 15 points in the set.

Leading the Bulldogs was Maggie Harbison who had 16 kills, Brooke Ruffolo had 19 digs, and Claire Randich and Erica Stahl each added seven blocks.

Butler will have their season finale against Saint Louis on Saturday at 5:00. Butler lost a tough match in St. Louis in early October.

“Our goal is to finish on a win, to finish the conference with two,” Clark said.

The Butler volleyball team is preparing for its third Atlantic 10 Conference road trip after dropping a pair of matches over the weekend.
The Bulldogs (12-11, 2-7) won a set in their match against league-leading No. 18 Dayton (17-4, 9-0) on Sunday, but the Flyers (17-4, 9-0) captured a 3-1 victory.
The opening-set was a back-and-forth affair that saw Dayton come away with a 26-24 win.
The Bulldogs led through most of the second set and eventually put the Flyers away for their only victory of the match.
Butler kept things close in the third set, but could not down Dayton a second time. This scene repeated itself in the fourth set, which the Flyers won to end the match.
Butler coach Sharon Clark said she was still proud of the Bulldogs’ effort despite the result.
“We really kept playing and played tough, but (the Flyers) dug more balls than we did and were able to terminate when they needed to, and that was the difference” said Clark.
“We stuck to our game plan” junior middle back Maggie Harbison said. “Although we didn’t win, we found great successes and took a huge step forward.”
Leading the Bulldogs was sophomore outside hitter Belle Obert with 17 kills. Sophomore middle back Erica Stahl added eight blocks, and sophomore libero Brooke Ruffolo tallied 21 digs.
On Friday, Butler fell in straight sets to Xavier.(15-9, 7-2)
The Musketeers (15-9, 7-2) jumped out to a big lead to open the contest, grabbing a 13-3 advantage in the opening set.
The hole would prove to be too much for the Bulldogs to dig out of, as they lost the first set 25-18.
In the second set, Butler and Xavier were close in the early stages. Eventually, the Musketeers gained the upper hand and came away with a 25-20 set victory.
The Bulldogs refused to go away in what proved to be the final set, although they eventually lost 25-23 to give Xavier the match.
Junior middle back Claire Randich provided 11 kills and three blocks for Butler. Junior setter Morgan Peterson also recorded three blocks, and Ruffolo added 17 digs.
The Bulldogs will head east for their next two matches, against Fordham (13-14, 5-3) Friday and Rhode Island (7-14, 3-5) Saturday.

The Butler volleyball team used an unconventional line-up to grind out a 3-2 win against Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis last night.

The Bulldogs were without a starter and other players were playing out of position, but they used 19 team blocks to bring home the win.

Collegian file photo

Sophomore Erica Stahl led the team with nine blocks, while junior Claire Randich finished with seven blocks.

Junior Maggie Harbison finished with a match-high 21 kills. Junior Morgan Peterson led with 53 assists and sophomore Brooke Ruffolo had 17 digs for the Bulldogs.

The team finished the weekend 2-1 at the Pittsburgh Panther Invitational.

Butler (4-2) opened the tournament with a 3-0 sweep of Howard.

The Bulldogs dominated Howard University in its first match, winning 25-13, 25-22 and 25-14.

Junior Maggie Harbison led the way with seven kills, while sophomore Belle Obert and senior Rachel Barber, both had six kills.

Leading the Bulldogs in digs was Peterson with six. Sophomore Kelly Kyle and Barber also contributed with five digs apiece.

Bulter continued its dominance by defeating Coastal Carolina (0-5) 3-2 on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs started the match down 16-10 in the first set. Butler tried to rally but fell short as the Chanticleers closed out the set 25-22.

However, Butler quickly recovered and controlled the second set. The score was 14-0 before Coastal Carolina scored its first point.

Butler went on to win the set 25-8.

The Bulldogs won the third set by a score of 25-17 to take a 2-1 advantage.

The Chanticleers would recover in the fourth set and win by a score of 25-23, setting up a winner-takes-all fifth set.

Butler reversed its play in the first set, dominating the beginning stages of the fifth. With the Bulldogs up 7-1, the Chanticleers would not go away.

Coastal Carolina rallied and made the score 9-7, but Butler pulled away and ended up winning the set and match 15-12 and 3-2, respectively.

Pittsburgh (4-2) swept the Bulldogs 3-0 in the last match of the weekend.

In the first set, Butler lost in a close 25-17 battle.

The second set was summarized by the Bulldogs’ inability to hold leads. Butler had leads of 11-7, 15-10 and 23-18, but Pittsburgh was able to claw its way back each time.

Butler ended up losing the set 26-24 to find itself in a 2-0 hole.

In the third set, the teams traded points throughout. In the latter part of the set, the Bulldogs were able to stave off several match points.

In the end, the Panthers were too much and won the set 28-26 to complete the sweep.

Leading the Bulldogs was Kyle with 13 digs, Barber with 12 kills and Randich with four blocks.

Peterson also added six digs and Harbison contributed 10 kills, with both being elected to the All-Tournament Team.

The Bulldogs will host Western Illinois, Stephen F. Austin and Indiana in the Butler Classic starting Friday.

The new will meet the old this fall as the Butler volleyball team prepares for another season on the court.

The new is the fresh competition the Bulldogs will face in their first season as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Collegian file photo

The old are the four starters returning to the team—junior middle blockers Maggie Harbison and Claire Randich and sophomore outside hitters Kelly Kyle and Belle Obert.

Also returning are sophomores Jadyn Yarling and Brooke Ruffolo, who will share time at the libero position.

Coach Sharon Clark said sophomore middle blocker Erica Stahl, a transfer from Cincinnati, is a player to watch this season for the Bulldogs.

Clark also said she expects the team’s captains, senior outside hitter Rachel Barber and junior setter Morgan Peterson, to rise into key leadership positions.

Peterson, a transfer from Middle Tennessee State, will fill the role of setter for Butler.

Members of the team and coaching staff said they are excited by the new challenges and opportunities they will face in the A-10.

Players said they are eagerly anticipating traveling to new locations and facing both new teams and previously non-conference opponents within the A-10.

Butler was ranked seventh in the A-10 preseason coaches’ poll following last season’s campaign, which saw the Bulldogs go 16-14 overall and 11-5 in Horizon League play.

Defending A-10 Conference champion Dayton was unanimously selected as this year’s preseason favorite to win the conference. Xavier was picked to finish second.

The Midwest contingent of A-10 teams—specifically Dayton, Xavier and Saint Louis—are teams that players and coaches said they are most excited to play.

“Those [matches] have a little more meaning for us personally as we have played those teams in the past,” Clark said. “Because of their location and membership in the A-10, they are built-in rivalry games for us.”

Despite the new conference, Clark said the team’s expectations are the same as they have always been.

“We have been working hard to be the best team we can be this preseason in order for us to play our best,” Clark said.

Clark said she places an emphasis on focusing on each match individually. The team’s goal to win the conference remains the same despite new competition.

The team has been busy in its preparation for the upcoming season and, with a short turnaround, has wasted no time in scouting its new competition.

Coaches assigned each player an A-10 team to scout and introduce to the rest of the Bulldogs, focusing on everything from style of play and last season’s results to school locations and mascots.

Ruffolo said she feels Butler has an advantage because some A-10 schools have not faced Butler in the past.

“My personal goal for this season is just to wow everyone,” Ruffolo said. “I don’t think teams expect a lot out of us, and we want to prove them wrong.”

The Bulldogs have their first chance to do so this Friday at the DePaul Invitational, with matches against Indiana State, Eastern Illinois and host DePaul.

The team will play its first home match on Sept. 7 against Western Illinois as it hosts the annual Butler Classic.

The Butler volleyball team won two matches over the weekend to pick up their ninth and 10th conference wins of the season and gain sole possession of third place in the Horizon League.

The Bulldogs (14-13, 10-5) grabbed their fourth consecutive victory when they topped Loyola in four sets on Saturday afternoon in Chicago.

Photo by Taylor Cox

The Bulldogs played even with the Ramblers (4-20, 1-13) through part of the first set before going on a 6-0 run that would eventually lead them to a 25-19 set victory.

The second and third sets would see each team score a combined 49 points, with the Ramblers taking the second set 26-24 and the Bulldogs taking the third set 25-23.

Butler would use the momentum from its victory in the third set to take control of the match in the fourth set.

In that set, the Bulldogs jetted out to a 16-9 lead and held off the Ramblers to clinch the match.

“I think the main thing is that we are all sticking together,” freshman libero Brooke Ruffolo said. “Before every game we scout the other teams intensely, and we learn their tendencies.

“It’s just one of those times in the season where everything is coming together.”

Butler was led by freshman outside hitter Belle Obert’s 21 kills and Ruffolo’s team-high 15 digs.

The third victory of the Bulldogs’ current four-match win streak came in a five-set win over Wisconsin-Green Bay on Thursday.

Butler raced out to an early two-set advantage over the Phoenix (10-16, 5-7). The Bulldogs won the sets 25-22 and 25-19, respectively.

However Green Bay fought back to take two close sets, 25-23 and 25-21, respectively.

Butler regrouped and jumped out to an early lead in the deciding fifth set.

The Phoenix would pull within one point at 10-9 but would get no closer as the Bulldogs went on to win five of the last six points to seal the five-set victory 15-10.

Obert led the team with 16 kills, Ruffolo had 37 digs and senior middle back Maureen Bamiro added 13 blocks.

After starting 1-4 in Horizon League play, Butler has won nine out of its last 10 conference matches and is in third place in the Horizon League with one match remaining.

The Bulldogs conclude conference play on Friday when they head to Dayton, Ohio, to take on Wright State.

“We owe it to our senior to win the last conference match for her and go out with a bang,” Ruffolo said.  “Beating Wright State is going to be great, and I can’t wait.”

Facing a team on a 10-match winning streak is problem enough for many volleyball teams.

When the Butler volleyball team was handed that scenario on Saturday with a match against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the Bulldogs had to deal with an unanticipated problem as well.

“We were really dead,” sophomore outside hitter Maggie Harbison said.

The lack of energy exerted by the Bulldogs (10-13, 6-5) combined with strong play by the visiting Panthers (18-4, 11-0) pushed Milwaukee past Butler in three sets.

The victory allowed the Panthers to remain undefeated in Horizon League action.

“Milwaukee is good, but they aren’t that good,” Butler coach Sharon Clark said. “We didn’t play very well, and it’s disappointing.”

Milwaukee scored the first four points in the opening set to create a gap that Butler was never able to close.

The Panthers put together multiple point streaks behind their .371 hitting percentage and topped the Bulldogs in kills 17-10.

Statistical domination translated to a 25-17 first-set victory for Milwaukee.

The second set saw the Bulldogs tally five points in six serves to pull to 15-14.

The Panthers responded quickly however, putting together a five-point streak and pushing their lead to 21-15.

Milwaukee closed out the set moments later, winning 25-19.

Photo by Taylor Cox

The Bulldogs picked up their first lead of the match by grabbing an early 2-1 advantage in the third set.

Butler led late in the set 21-20 before Milwaukee made a final push to capture a 25-23 win and 3-0 match victory.

“You need to have a match where you lose sometimes,” Harbison said. “Hopefully it’ll wake us up.”

Freshman outside hitter Belle Obert had seven kills and 11 digs for the Bulldogs, freshman outside hitter Kelly Kyle had a team-high 10 kills and freshman libero Brooke Ruffolo added a team-high 19 digs.

Butler will welcome Valparaiso and Illinois-Chicago to Hinkle Fieldhouse on Friday and Saturday for two more conference matches.

“We need to practice and work hard this week,” Clark said.

The Butler volleyball team continued a string of good play over the weekend, capturing its second and third wins in a row.

The Bulldogs (8-12, 4-4) took two Horizon League matches at home when they defeated Loyola 3-1 on Saturday before disposing of Green Bay 3-0 on Sunday.

The Bulldogs got off to a quick start against the Phoenix (8-12, 4-4) from Green Bay, taking the opening set 25-21.

Butler kept Green Bay at a comfortable distance throughout the set. The Phoenix were able to pull within a couple points on a few occasions but were never able to close the gap.

The Bulldogs also jumped out to a big lead in the second set before Green Bay began to pressure.

Photo by Taylor Cox

Facing a Phoenix set point, senior middle back Maureen Bamiro notched a kill to even the score and then gave Butler the lead two serves later with another kill.

The second set would come to an end when Green Bay made an error, giving the Bulldogs a 27-25 set win.

“We practice working under pressure and in pressure situations all the time,” Bamiro said. “We just tried to focus on making the smart play and not trying to error ourselves out [of the match], and I thought we did a good job of that.”

The Bulldogs did not waste their opportunity to sweep the match, finishing strong to take the final set 25-21.

Bamiro led Butler with 17 kills while freshman libero Brooke Ruffolo recorded a team-high 21 digs.

Freshman outside hitter Kelly Kyle added 18 digs while junior setter Gina Vera finished with 40 assists.

The win Sunday followed a 3-1 victory for the Bulldogs Saturday against Loyola.

The Ramblers (4-12, 1-5) might have come in as the underdog, but they gave Butler all they could handle in the first set, winning it 25-23.

The Bulldogs would respond by taking the next two sets by decisive margins, 25-14 and 25-11, respectively.

“We came out lackadaisical in the beginning,” sophomore outside hitter Maggie Harbison said. “But then we said, ‘OK, we have to step it up, this is our home court,’ and we came out and served and received really well.”

The fourth set proved to be close until Butler finally pulled away to take the set and match 25-19.

Ruffolo led the team with 25 digs and Vera added 41 assists to complement her 12 digs.

Harbison added nine kills for the Bulldogs.

Photo by Taylor Cox

With the sweep, Butler moved to 4-4 in the Horizon League and into fifth place with eight conference matches remaining.

The Bulldogs look to extend their winning streak when they head to Ohio for a pair of weekend contests.

Butler will face Youngstown State on Friday before traveling to Cleveland State to take on the Vikings, who currently hold second place.

The Penguins (2-18, 1-7) from Youngstown State have struggled to get anything going this season, with a win against Loyola as their only conference victory.

The Bulldogs defeated the Penguins earlier in the season 3-0 behind 16 kills from Kyle and 13 digs from Ruffolo.

The Vikings (13-5, 6-1), like the Bulldogs, are currently riding a three-game winning streak.

Cleveland State has defeated every team in the Horizon League except for Wisconsin-Milwaukee this season, including a 3-0 win over Butler in September.

Since arriving at Butler last month, Brooke Ruffolo has made everything look easy.

The freshman from Farmington Hills, Mich. immediately became the Bulldogs’ starting libero this season. In that role, she has played in every one of Butler’s 13 matches and 47 sets and leads the team in hitting percentage (.400) and digs (173).

The best part: Ruffolo is a walk-on player.

“I have a good work ethic, and I know what the coaches expected of me,” Ruffolo said. “It’s an honor to be a freshman walk-on and starting. I’m really lucky.”

Luck might not have as much to do with it as sheer ability and talent.

Photo by Taylor Cox

The nine-year player became serious about volleyball during the offseason of her junior year of high school.

After deciding that she indeed wanted to play the game at the collegiate level, Ruffolo starting winning awards and getting phone calls from multiple colleges.

One of those colleges, of course, was Butler.

“The coaches [at Butler] contacted me during a tournament, and I fell in love with the campus,” Ruffolo said. “The girls are very nice, and it was a perfect fit for me.”

Ruffolo has proved to be a perfect fit for Butler volleyball coach Sharon Clark’s team as well.

“[Ruffolo] has worked and competed hard for the starting libero spot,” Clark said. “She’s done a great job for us this year.”

Ruffolo said she can not only help the team with strong performances but also acquire a scholarship to help offset some of the cost of college.

“I hope there is a scholarship for me in the future,” Ruffolo said. “If I’m doing my job for the team, I don’t see why there can’t be.”

While Ruffolo’s work in the first 13 matches of this season has been impressive, she said she must keep working if there is any chance for her to attain a scholarship.

“I need to keep doing what I’m doing now,” Ruffolo said. “I need to scout opponents, get stronger and try to get better during practice.”

Ruffolo said that she hasn’t been treated any differently on the team because she is a walk-on, and Clark admits that she does not use the term walk-on.

This bodes well for a squad that is likely to return nearly all of its players, excluding lone senior Maureen Bamiro.

“Maureen [Bamiro] does a good job leading, and the juniors have stepped up, too,” Ruffolo said. “We all mesh well, and we’re optimistic about the future.”

Ruffolo, who is studying pre-med at Butler, said she expects to “do her own thing” after college. Even if that does not include volleyball, she said she knows she will be better off for competing at the college level.

“It will be a great experience,” Ruffolo said.