Sophomore Kelly Kyle might have been born with a hearing impairment so severe that she is legally considered deaf, but that hasn’t stopped the Butler volleyball player from chasing after one of the biggest dreams of all U.S. athletes: playing for a national team.

This summer, Kyle will become part of a 12-woman roster representing the U.S. at the Deaflympics in Bulgaria. She will spend July 26 through Aug. 4 in Sophia, Bulgaria’s capital, in an attempt to win a world title on the volleyball court.

Kyle said she’s honored to be part of a team representing the U.S. and is looking forward to this summer when she will meet and train with her new teammates before traveling across an ocean for the first time.

The 2011 North Montgomery High School graduate will join thousands of other legally deaf athletes at the Deaflympics.

“I think one of the hardest things will be not being able to use the hearing aids,” Kyle said. “And I don’t know any sign language. Volleyball is such a communication sport, so it’ll be a learning experience.”

She said she will no doubt be learning the language before taking off for Bulgaria in July, adding that it’s even more important in this case because almost everyone she’ll be dealing with at the games— including teammates and coaches—will be fully deaf.

Kyle will also be meeting her new teammates for the first time in late May at the U.S. Open in Louisville, Ky.

“It’s exciting,” Kyle said, “to represent the country in any way, shape or form, and to represent my hometown and Butler. It’s really exciting.
“And to go to a new place with a totally different language and being around so many deaf people, it’s going to be very interesting.”

Jodi Webster, Kyle’s high school coach at North Montgomery high school said  determination, as well as Kyle’s humility and persistence, are some of her defining characteristics.

“It’s been such a great joy watching her grow up,” Webster said. “It’s really an amazing thing. Kelly never feels sorry for herself—she just strives for success. “We’re all really proud of her.”

Butler head coach Sharon Clark also expressed her happiness for the upcoming event and the contributions Kyle has made so far in her first two seasons at Butler.

“She’s very self-sufficient,” Clark said. “There are things we have to be conscious about. But she’s a very well-rounded player. To come in day in and day out and always have a smile on her face and know that she’s just such a joyful person, it makes you work harder.

“And it’s ironic because, despite what she’s gone through in life, that in and of itself is a great thing.”

The Butler Volleyball team (10-4) defeated Kent State (3-9) in straight sets on Saturday evening in the final match of the Butler Invitational to finish the weekend 2-1.

Butler started off slow, and was down 6-10 before they took a timeout. It turned out to be changing point, as the Bulldogs would go on to outscore Kent State 19 to six to close out the set by a score of 25-16.

The second set was won in similar fashion. The set was back and forth until the middle stages of the set. With Butler leading 16-15, the Bulldogs would take nine of the next 13 points to close out the set, and take a 2-0 lead going into halftime.

The third set was anything but similar to the first two. The set was close throughout; no team was ever ahead by more than three points. The Bulldogs were faced with set point, but the Golden Flashes had a service error, which tied the score at 24.

This would begin a back and forth in which Butler and Kent State each had four opportunities to put away the set. With Butler leading 31-30, the Bulldogs appeared to win, and began to celebrate on the court. Even the scoreboard keeper had put 32-30 on the scoreboard. But the official made a late call and signaled that the kill by Kent State was in, so the match carried on.

In the end, it was the Bulldogs who were able to win off an ace by sophomore Stephanie Kranda to win the set 34-32 and complete the sweep.

Leading the Bulldogs was sophomore Jadyn Yarling who tallied 13 digs, along with sophomore Kelly Kyle who had 12 digs. Additionally, sophomore Erica Stahl contributed with six blocks, and sophomore Belle Obert led the team with 17 kills.

“I thought we played great defense. We dug more balls than they did, we blocked well, and we were able to transition out and get more kills,” said coach Sharon Clark.

“I think we played a really solid, tough schedule in preseason, and that’s has prepared us to be ready to go in to Dayton and Xavier next weekend and really be ready for them,” Clark said.

The Bulldogs lost to the University of California, Davis three sets to none on Friday evening.

The first set was competitive in the beginning, but the Aggies pulled ahead in the middle stages of the set to a 17-10 lead. The Bulldogs then appeared to be on a late surge; down 15-23 the Bulldogs scored four straight points to force a UC Davis timeout. The Bulldogs were unable to continue the surge, and the Aggies won the first set 25-20.

The second set was also competitive; the Bulldogs took a 9-8 lead to force a UC Davis timeout. The match remained even until the Aggies went on a four-point run to take a 17-14 lead. Butler would not be able to match that rally, and UC Davis won the second set 25-19.

The third set was not as even as the first two. The Bulldogs faced big deficits of 4-10 and 9-17, and were not able to rally as the Aggies won the third set 25-14 to complete the sweep.

Leading the Bulldogs was Yarling who had 22 digs, along with Obert who had 13 kills, and Stahl who had 5 blocks.

In the first match of the invitational, Butler defeated Southeast Missouri State (6-6) three sets to two on Friday afternoon.

The Bulldogs were down two sets to one and faced with elimination. However, they were able to win the final two sets to pull out the victory for their ninth win of the season.

Butler started off the match winning the first set, 25-19, and it looked as though it was going to be a quick match. The Redhawks had different thoughts and would win the next two sets 25-20 and 25-18 to put the Bulldogs on the brink of a loss.

With their back to the wall, coach Sharon Clark made a switch with her outside hitters. The change would prove to be a good one, as Butler would take the fourth set 25-20 to force a winner-take-all fifth set.

In the fifth set, the Bulldogs had to take a quick timeout after trailing early 3-0. Butler was able to rally and would take a 6-5 lead, which they would hold, and eventually close out the set by a score of 15-11.

Leading the Bulldogs was junior Maggie Harbison who had 17 kills, sophomore Erica Stahl who tallied nine blocks, and sophomore Jadyn Yarling had 27 digs. Also contributing was sophomore Belle Obert who had 14 kills and nine digs, along with the help of junior Claire Randich who had six blocks and 12 kills.

The Bulldogs will travel to Dayton on Friday in what will be the first Atlantic 10 Conference match in the history of Butler Athletics. Coach Clark said she is looking forward to the matchup, and believes that the team is ready.

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.

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.

After losing two matches this past weekend and falling to 5-12 on the season, the Butler volleyball team is searching for answers.

Hurt by unforced errors, the young Bulldogs  (6-12, 2-4) cannot seem to string together enough wins to get themselves back on track.

“This season is just a lot different,” sophomore outside hitter Maggie Harbison said. “We’re still trying to figure out who the leaders are, and everyone is taking on different roles.”

On Saturday against Valparaiso, the Bulldogs’ youth was apparent.

The Crusaders (13-6, 4-1) narrowly took the first set 25-21, but the Bulldogs came back and won the second set.

Valparaiso came out of the break strong and cruised to win the third and fourth sets.

Middle back Maureen Bamiro, the only senior on this year’s Butler squad, led the Bulldogs with 10 kills. Harbison added nine kills and five blocks.

“On the stat sheet, we beat them, but unforced errors really hurt us,” Harbison said. “Our second game should be more of a rivalry, and we’re getting better with every game.”

Photo by Taylor Cox

Earlier in the weekend, the Bulldogs visited Chicago to take on the Illinois-Chicago Flames.

Amid a hostile crowd in a packed gym, the Bulldogs were able to push the Flames (11-5, 4-1) to a fifth set but dropped it and the match on a missed serve.

“It was a very emotional and intense game,” junior setter Gina Vera said. “We fought through the whole game and were proud of our effort.”

Freshman Kelly Kyle had a strong match, with 11 kills and nine digs. She was joined by Harbison, who recorded 10 kills and eight blocks.

Bamiro added 10 kills and four blocks.

The Bulldogs played well at times during the game but made too many self-inflicted errors to win.

“The gym was crazy, and they’re one of the best teams in the Horizon League,” Harbison said. “We went five with them, which was good to see.”

The Bulldogs took care of Wright State at home on Tuesday.

They took all three sets from the Raiders (2-16, 1-6) by scores of 25-17, 25-16 and 25-15.

The Bulldogs face Loyola Oct. 8. The game will start at 4 p.m. in Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Inexperience and a low hitting percentage sent the Butler volleyball team to a 3-0 defeat Monday night against North Dakota State.

Butler coach Sharon Clark said it has been a growing year for the young team that includes six freshmen. She said this inexperience added to the Bulldogs’ 20 attack errors in the match.

“We have erred ourselves out of games this year,” Clark said, “but we’re looking at getting better in each game.”

The Bulldogs (5-10, 1-2) had a slow first two sets and ended the match with a .087 hitting percentage, a far cry from the .288 hitting percentage of the Bison (10-6).

Photo by Taylor Cox

Freshman middle back Stephanie Kranda had a strong first set for Butler. She ended the match with a team-high nine kills.

“[Kranda] is by far the ultimate utility player,” Clark said. “As she gets better playing at this level, she’ll really be a valuable weapon for us.”

The momentum was ultimately not in the Bulldogs’ favor, however, with the Bison taking the first set 25-18.

Butler sophomore middle back Claire Randich started off the second set with a kill, followed by a series of long volleys.

The two teams traded points until back-to-back kills by the Bison put them ahead 9-5.

The kills began a streak of 11 unanswered points by the Bison that ended when the Bulldogs scored on an error.

“Those long rallies are always energizing but also deflating whenever you come out on the short end of it,” Clark said.

Junior setter Gina Vera said the team tried to regroup between the second and third sets and focus on moving around the floor more quickly.

The third set started off tighter with kills by Kranda and senior middle back Maureen Bamiro.

The teams were neck and neck early in the set and tied at 15-15 following a kill by Bamiro.

They continued trading points, but the Bison pulled ahead and won the set 25-19.

The Bulldogs also fell 3-0 Friday against Milwaukee. The Panthers (11-4, 4-0) recorded a hitting percentage of .317, pushing them past the error-prone Bulldogs in three sets (25-23, 25-15, 25-14).

Sophomore outside hitter Maggie Harbison led the Bulldogs with six kills and a .333 hitting percentage. Freshman outside hitter Kelly Kyle had a team-high nine kills and five digs in the loss.

Butler will hit the road this weekend, taking on conference opponents Illinois-Chicago Friday and Valparaiso Saturday.

The Butler University volleyball team hung tough with three different teams over the course of 14 games at the Notre Dame Invitational, but they came up short in all three matches and started the season with a 0-3 mark.

The Bulldogs lost the first match 3-2 to Idaho and fell to Eastern Michigan by the same margin in the second match.

On the final day of the invitational, Butler gave Notre Dame a run for its money but dropped the match 3-1 to end their tournament.

Against Idaho, the Bulldogs fell behind two games to none before battling back to force a decisive fifth game.

“We got off to a slow start, but once we got together and regrouped ourselves, we came out with fire, and we got those two games right back,” senior middle blocker Maureen Bamiro said.

The Vandals (1-2) proved to be too much for the Bulldogs, however, winning the final game 15-11.

Freshman outside hitter Kelly Kyle led Butler with 13 kills and 10 digs, while Bamiro, a returning all-league and all-region player, added 10 kills and four digs.

Junior setter Gina Vera, who ranked fifth in the Horizon League in assists last season, provided 47 of them for the Bulldogs.

“We came back and fought and that shows a lot of character in us,” Bamiro said. “We have the ability to be great. We just have to learn how to put our abilities together and finish a game.”

The Bulldogs would get another chance to finish their match against Eastern Michigan, which lasted five games.

Butler lost the first game before picking up consecutive victories. After the Eagles (2-1) won the fourth game, they used the momentum to capture the fifth game 17-15.

Bamiro led the team with 19 kills, and sophomore outside hitter Maggie Harbison added 17 kills and 11 digs to bolster Butler’s offense.

The Bulldogs won more points than Eastern Michigan, outscoring them 113-95, but close games were the Achilles’ heel for Butler.

“We made a lot of unforced errors at the wrong times,” Harbison said. “We just need to be more consistent.”

The Bulldogs wrapped up their weekend with a match against Notre Dame.

Butler split the first two games with the Fighting Irish (3-0), but Notre Dame proved to be too much for Butler, taking the final two games for a 3-1 victory.
The win allowed the Fighting Irish to capture the invitational crown and achieve their best start to a season since 2006.

Bamiro again led the Bulldogs in kills, tallying 13 along with 5 blocks. Sophomore libero Maureen Nesbit chipped in with a team-high 16 digs.

Butler did not get the results it wanted over the weekend, but Bamiro said the squad did leave with an idea of what it needed to work on as the season progresses.

“We made a lot of progress,” Bamiro said. “We just have to work on putting it all together. Just working on that constant repetition and finding our niche, and just doing it over and over again so that we don’t have to think about it [will help us].”

The Bulldogs will return to action this Thursday when they head west to compete in the Portland Classic.

In the Classic, they will take on teams from  Portland, Texas A&M, Nevada and Washington State.