Valparaiso’s Victoria Bulmahn reached a milestone recently, surpassing 2,000 assists for her career.
Valparaiso University Athletics
In a 3-1 Missouri Valley Conference victory over Belmont, Valparaiso junior setter Victoria Bulmahn, a former Daily Reporter Hancock County Volleyball Athlete of the Year and standout at Mt. Vernon High School, surpassed the 2,000 career assist mark.
Bulmahn became the 11th player in Valpo volleyball history to reach 2,000 career assists, doing so on a kill by Mallory Januski early in the fourth set. She tallied 24 assists and 11 digs in the victory for her seventh double-double of the year.
The win was the Beacons 20th of the season.
Football
Dragon vs. Dragon, and Marauder
They will not be on the field at the same time, but tonight’s Mid-American Conference football game between Ball State and Toledo will feature a pair of former stars from New Palestine’s 2018-2019 back-to-back Class 5A state championship teams.
Maxen Hook is a starting defensive back for the Rockets, who host the Cardinals in a game that will be televised on ESPN at 8 p.m. Kyle King is a defensive lineman for the Cardinals.
The game is a battle for first place in the MAC West Division. Toledo leads with a 4-1 conference record. Ball State is 3-2.
Along with the two former Dragons, one of the Cardinals top players on offense is a former standout at Mt. Vernon. Tanner Koziol is a starting tight end at Ball State.
Koziol’s five touchdowns are most on the Cardinals squad. King’s 3.5 tackles for loss ranks fourth at BSU.
Hook is coming off a week where he was named MAC West Defensive Player of the Week. He had a career-high with 13 tackles and nabbed the first interception of his career.
Frosh Slunaker big on Senior Day
On the team’s Senior Day, Georgetown College freshman quarterback Gehrig Slunaker was part of four of the team’s five touchdowns in a 35-0 victory over Thomas More.
The former Mt. Vernon star, who helped lead the Marauders to the 2021 Class 4A state title, threw a pair of first-quarter touchdown passes, a 10-yarder and 9-yarder. In the fourth quarter, he had touchdown runs of 1 and 16 yards.
Slunaker finished 17 of 27 for 151 yards. He rushed seven times for 43 yards.
Cross Country
Brinkruff succeeding at No. 1 Taylor
Former Greenfield-Central standout Audrey Brinkruff was a key runner in Taylor University’s victory in last week’s Crossroads League Championship race.
The Trojans are the No. 1 ranked team in NAIA and scored just 24 points in the 10-team meet.
In the 5K race, Brinkruff finished 10th overall with a time of 18:33.1
Wrestling
Noehre third at Clarion
Purdue junior Cooper Noehre, a former state runner-up at Greenfield-Central High School, finished third in the 165-pound class at last weekend’s Clarion Open.
Wrestling in the 141-pound class, former New Palestine wrestler Christian White, a sophomore at Purdue, went 3-2.
The Boilermakers won the 10-team event.
Keevers wins crown
University of Indianapolis freshman wrestler Porter Keevers, competing unattached in the 184-pound class, won his division at Saturday’s Kaufman Brand Open in St. Louis, Missouri.
Keevers won by fall in his first two matches and had a 4-2 decision in the championship round.
