Valparaiso (9-5, 1-1 MVC)
Friday, Oct. 4 - UNI (7-7, 2-0 MVC) - 6 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 5 - Drake (6-7, 2-0 MVC) - 6 p.m.

Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: The Valpo volleyball team returns home to the ARC for the first time in Missouri Valley Conference play, hosting a pair of matches on Homecoming weekend. MVC preseason favorite UNI comes to town Friday night before a matchup with Drake on Saturday evening.

Previously: The Beacons split their first weekend of Valley play on the road, dropping a five-set match at Evansville despite dominating performances in the two sets they won before rebounding with a sweep of Indiana State last Saturday.

Looking Ahead: It's a busy week next week for the Beacons, as they travel to the Windy City for a Tuesday night match against UIC before hosting Southern Illinois and Missouri State next weekend.

Following the Beacons: Both matches this weekend will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Both matches will have live stats available, linked via ValpoAthletics.com.

Head Coach Carin Avery: In her 23rd season as head coach at Valparaiso, Carin Avery is the all-time winningest head coach across all sports in the history of Valpo Athletics. She has won 498 matches (498-248, .668) at the helm of the program and has led Valpo to three league regular season and tournament titles. The program has made seven postseason appearances under Avery, including three NCAA Tournament appearances, and advanced to the championship match of the 2021 NIVC. Avery has coached 62 All-League recipients over her tenure at Valpo, which has spanned three different conferences. She is Valpo's all-time leader in both victories and winning percentage, and owns a 553-272 (.670) record overall as a head coach.

Series History: UNI - The Panthers hold an 18-4 advantage in the all-time series, including wins in the four matchups between the two programs over the last two seasons. Last year, UNI earned a three-set win in Cedar Falls and a four-set win at the ARC.

Drake - Valpo is 13-7 all-time against the Bulldogs, including a 12-6 mark under Avery and a 9-5 record since joining the Valley. However, the Bulldogs have earned wins in each of the last three meetings, including a pair of four-set decisions last season.

Scouting the Opposition: UNI - The Panthers sit at 7-7 overall this year following a challenging nonconference schedule and are 2-0 in Valley play, sweeping Southern Illinois and Missouri State last weekend. Kira Fallert (3.73 kills/set) and Cassidy Hartman (3.45 kills/set) both rank among the top-six in the MVC in kills, while Kacie Rewerts ranks second in the Valley with 1.14 blocks/set.

Drake - The Bulldogs went just 4-7 against a challenging nonconference schedule, but did pick up a Big Ten win, downing Iowa. Drake opened Valley play last weekend with sweeps of Missouri State and Southern Illinois. Jada Wills leads the nation, averaging 6.39 digs/set defensively, while Macy Daufeldt ranks among the top-five in the MVC in both kills/set (4.22, 3rd) and service aces/set (0.41, 4th).

Valpo Picked Sixth in Preseason Poll: Valpo was picked to finish in sixth place in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2024, according to preseason polling of the conference's head coaches. The Beacons shared sixth position with Missouri State, while UNI topped the poll. In six of Valpo's seven seasons in the Valley, the program has met or exceeded its preseason prognostication.

Looking Back at Last Season: Valpo is coming off a third consecutive postseason appearance in 2023, as the Beacons earned an at-large berth in the NIVC. The program posted an 18-15 overall record and went 10-8 in MVC play, finishing in a tie for fifth place in the Valley standings. Miranda Strongman earned First Team All-MVC honors, while Mallory Januski was a Second Team All-MVC honoree.

Who's Back: This year's squad returns nine letterwinners from the 2023 team, a group which includes the team's leader in kills (Elise Swistek) and digs (Emma Hickey). The Beacons return a good bit of their back row defensive production, as 65.7% of the team's digs from last year are back in 2024.

Who's Gone: Valpo did graduate a talented class which accounted for a good portion of the team's front row production last year, as the Beacons return just 37.9% of the kills and 25.3% of the blocks from 2023. Middles Mallory Januski and Miranda Strongman, both All-MVC selections last year, ended their Valpo careers 1-2 in program history in career hitting percentage, while the team also graduated players who ranked among the top-10 in program history in career digs (outside hitter Bella Ravotto) and assists (setter Victoria Bulmahn).

Who's New: While there's a lot of production from last year to replace in 2024, there's also an exciting new class of rookies eager to take on the challenge of stepping up into contributing roles. This year's squad has nine players with freshman eligibility - one redshirt (Jessica Pickett) and eight true freshmen. The incoming class includes two players who were AVCA High School All-Americans last year (Ava Helming, Second Team; Lilly Merk, Third Team) and three others who were First Team All-State honorees as high school seniors (Jordyn Gove, Drew Glaser, Kadence Brumitt).

500 in Sight: Seemingly every time you turn around, head coach Carin Avery is approaching another milestone. Next up for Avery - Valpo Athletics' all-time winningest coach in any sport - is the 500-win mark as head coach at Valpo. Avery enters the week with 498 Valpo victories to her credit after the win over Indiana State last Saturday. In her 23rd season as head coach at Valpo, Avery's squads have averaged over 22 wins per season with her at the helm.

A Challenging Stretch: Pairing the travel partner match next Tuesday with this weekend of action presents a young Valpo squad with a challenging stretch of matches. UNI, Drake and UIC all posted perfect 2-0 records on the opening weekend of Valley action, while in the preseason poll, they were picked first, third and second, respectively.

Gove Steps Up: Despite not starting either match in the opening weekend of Valley play, freshman Jordyn Gove enjoyed a pair of strong matches on the outside. Gove led the Beacons with a season-best 16 kills on .333 hitting Friday against Evansville, adding 10 digs for her second double-double of the year. She followed the next day in the sweep of Indiana State with eight kills on .350 hitting and seven digs in just two sets of action. For the weekend, Gove ranked seventh in the MVC and tops among freshmen with 3.43 kills/set.

Pickett Fence: Freshman Jessica Pickett made her presence felt at the net defensively in the opening weekend of MVC play. Pickett posted eight blocks Friday evening at Evansville, one shy of her season best, and followed with a five-block effort the next day in the sweep of Indiana State. Pickett led all players in rejections in both matches and averaged an MVC-best 1.63 blocks/set for the weekend.

Moving On Up: Within one match last Saturday, junior libero Emma Hickey moved up two more spots on the Beacons' career digs chart. Hickey leapfrogged Bella Ravotto and Sarah Dooms, finishing the weekend seventh in program history with 1,658 career digs. It will take the junior a bit longer to continue her march up the chart, however, as next up will be Sara Silcox in sixth position, who owned 1,887 career digs.

Leading the Way: Junior Emma Hickey currently sits second nationally in total digs, racking up 295 digs through the season's first five weekends. Her average of 5.57 digs/set ranks fourth nationally as well. With 1,658 career digs, Hickey has far and away the most digs of any D-I junior, as number two on that list - Montana State's Lauren Lindseth - sits at 1,191 career digs. In fact, Hickey ranks 29th nationally overall among D-I players in career digs.  

1,500 For Hickey: Emma Hickey reached yet another career milestone Sept. 7 with her final dig of the weekend at St. Thomas, as it was the 1,500th dig of her collegiate career. Hickey reached the mark in her 72nd career match, becoming the fastest player in both Valpo history and MVC history to hit 1,500. She surpassed Illinois State's Courtney Pence, who reached the mark in 74 matches, as the fastest player in the MVC history to 1,500 career digs, and also bettered Rylee Cookerly and Taylor Root in Valpo's record books, as both Cookerly and Root hit the mark in 76 matches.

At or Near the Top: It's become commonplace to see Valpo at or near the top of the Valley in digs/set, and this year has been no exception so far, as the Beacons currently rank third in the conference and 16th nationally in digs/set. What's perhaps more eye-popping, however, is how many other categories Valpo is ranked highly in. The Beacons currently lead the MVC in aces/set (53rd nationally), while also ranking second in kills/set (38th nationally) and blocks/set.

Three Times the Honors: Senior Elise Swistek became just the second Valpo player in the tenure of head coach Carin Avery to earn All-Tournament Team honors three times in a single season at early-season tournaments this season. Swistek received recognition at each of the final three tournaments of nonconference play.

The Rookies Produce: Valpo's freshman class has stood out at the net this season. The Beacons' rookies have accounted for 58.5% of the team's kills and 78.8% of the team's blocks over the first 12 matches. Freshmen have combined for 14 matches with double-figure kill totals and 10 matches with five or more blocks.

I'm About to Play My Ace: The service game has been much more of a weapon for this year's squad than in Valpo's recent history. The Beacons have 97 aces through 14 matches, averaging 1.80 aces/set. To put the average into context, Valpo has not averaged more than 1.20 aces/set since the 2017 season, while its high in the 25-point era is 1.46 aces/set. Individually, Mara Thomas (8, Cornell) and Lilly Merk (6, Northern Illinois) have posted the program's two highest individual single-match ace totals of the 25-point era.