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.

The Butler men’s soccer team has proven it can fight back with the best of them this season.

After falling behind 1-0 on Saturday, the Bulldogs (5-4-1, 1-1-0) roared back in the second half to defeat Loyola 3-1 and gain their first conference victory of the season.

From a shooting standpoint, the first half was evenly played, with the Ramblers (1-7-1, 0-2-0) holding a 4-3 advantage in shots. None of Butler’s shots were on goal, however, while Loyola was able to find the back of the net with one of its shots.

Sophomore forward James Howe scored in the 23^rd minute for the Ramblers’ first and only goal of the match. The 1-0 lead would hold up until halftime.

“We weren’t that sharp in the first half,” head coach Paul Snape said. “I just tried to calm them down and say ‘Look, this is a difficult situation we are in, but let’s just relax and take control of the game.’”

The tide of the match completely turned when both teams exited the locker room.

The Bulldogs came out in the second half and played inspired soccer, outshooting the Ramblers 12-6 in the half and tallying three goals.

Sophomore forward Adekunle Oluyedun got things started with an unassisted goal in the 52^nd minute on a strike from the left side of the box.

Junior forward Blake Leyden would get in on the action 12 minutes later when he scored an unassisted goal off of a corner kick.

“Ade made a run toward the near post, and I just fired it toward him as hard as I could,” Leyden said. “He faked at the ball and just let it go in, and they gave me the goal.”

Freshman midfielder Zach Steinberger would add an insurance goal just over two minutes later, and the Bulldogs were well on their way to claiming their first Horizon League win of the year.

The good feelings would not last long for Butler. The Bulldogs took a short road trip Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis yesterday and failed to score against the Jaguars (2-7-2), dropping a 3-0 decision.

IUPUI sophomore forward Ian Block tallied two goals in a five-minute stretch for the Jaguars midway through the first half. Senior forward Perez Agaba scored IUPUI’s third goal in the 81^st minute.

Butler outshot IUPUI 18-12 but could not put a shot past Jaguars’ senior goalkeeper Tyler Keever. Butler freshman goalkeeper Andy Holte allowed IUPUI’s first two strikes and suffered the loss.

The Bulldogs will look to get back on track when they continue conference play against Illinois Chicago. The match will take place in the Butler Bowl at 7:00 pm on Saturday.