Valparaiso (14-9, 6-5 MVC)
Friday, Nov. 1 - at Missouri State (9-14, 3-8 MVC) - 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 2 - at Southern Illinois (10-12, 3-8 MVC) - 5 p.m.

Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: Winners of five in a row, the Valpo volleyball team hits the road each of the next two weekends, starting this weekend with its longest trip in conference play as the Beacons play at Missouri State Friday night and at Southern Illinois Saturday evening.

Previously: Valpo took care of business last weekend at the ARC, defeating both Bradley and Illinois State in four sets. The latter victory was the program's first at the ARC over the Redbirds since joining the MVC.

Looking Ahead: It's right back on the road next weekend for the Beacons, as they head to Drake and UNI.

Following the Beacons: Both matches this week will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The matches will have live stats available as well, 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 503 matches (503-252, .666) 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 558-276 (.669) record overall as a head coach.

Series History: Missouri State - The Bears hold a 10-7 advantage in the all-time series, including an 8-7 mark since Valpo joined the Valley. The Beacons have come away with victories in each of the last three matchups, however, including a lengthy five-set win at the ARC earlier this season. Elise Swistek posted 19 kills and 19 digs in that victory, while Emma Hickey led all players with 35 digs.

Southern Illinois - Valpo is 11-6 all-time against the Salukis, including a commanding 11-3 series lead since joining the Valley. The Beacons had won five in a row in the series before SIU claimed a four-set victory at the ARC earlier this season.

Scouting the Opposition: Missouri State - The Bears sit at 9-14 overall and 3-8 in MVC play entering Friday night's match, coming off of a three-set sweep of Belmont last Saturday. Morgan Sprague ranks third among MVC players with 9.20 assists/set, while Aniya Joseph (5th, 3.62) and Rilynn Finley (9th, 3.26) both rank among the top-10 in kills/set.

Southern Illinois - After dropping a pair of matches last weekend, the Salukis come into this weekend at 10-12 overall and 3-8 in Valley action. Cecilia Bulmahn ranks seventh in the Valley in digs/set (3.99) and ninth in aces/set (0.32), while Larissa Seger is seventh in hitting percentage (.304) and eighth in blocks/set (0.88).

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).

WWWWW: With its pair of victories last weekend, Valpo extended its current winning streak to a season-best five consecutive matches. The five-match winning streak is the program's second-longest in conference play since joining the MVC, outdone only by last year's team, which won six consecutive Valley matchups.

What a Rally: The winning streak wouldn't be a thing had it not been for the Beacons' big rally at Belmont after trailing 2-1 and 23-17 in the fourth set. The Beacons finished the fourth set on a 9-1 run to force the fifth frame, and then scored eight straight to start the fifth set on their way to a 15-4 win. All told, it was a 24-5 run between the fourth and fifth sets. It was the program's first win after facing a match point since scoring the final three points of the match after trailing 14-13 in the fifth set against South Alabama Sept. 4, 2021, while it was the first win when trailing after three sets since last November against Bradley. Meanwhile, the 15-4 win in the fifth set was Valpo's largest fifth-set win since a 15-2 final-frame win at Illinois State Feb. 22, 2021.

Next Stop, 600: Head coach Carin Avery reached yet another milestone in mid-October, winning her 500th match in charge of the Valpo program with the Beacons' win at Murray State. Valpo's all-time winningest coach in any sport, Avery's 500th win came in her 752nd match in charge of the program. In her 23rd season as head coach, Avery's squads have averaged better than 22 wins per season over her 22 complete years. Avery is the second current MVC coach to win at least 500 matches at their current institution, joining UNI's Bobbi Petersen.

Raking in the Honors: There's a direct correlation between the recent play of freshman right side Ava Helming and the Beacons' winning streak, and Helming took it to the next level last week, as she was named both MVC Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week - just the seventh time in conference history one player has swept both awards, and the second straight week she claimed Freshman of the Week honors. In the wins over Illinois State and Bradley, Helming combined to average 3.88 kills/set on .441 hitting and added an even one block per set defensively as well. She ranked fifth last week among all MVC players in kills/set, fourth in hitting percentage and ninth in blocks/set. Over Valpo's five-match winning streak, Helming is averaging 3.59 kills/set on .401 hitting — in that stretch, the freshman has tallied at least 14 kills in every match and has not hit worse than .316 in a single contest.

The Offense and the Defense: Senior outside Elise Swistek showcased both sides of her game last weekend in the Beacons' pair of wins. On Friday, she paced Valpo for a fourth consecutive match with 15 kills in the win over Bradley. Then, on Saturday, while she was limited to just six kills, Swistek stood out defensively with a match-best 22 digs - nine of which were converted immediately into kills - and 17 serve receptions without an error - eight of which resulted in first-ball kills.

Setting It Up: Sophomore Mara Thomas posted her best set percentage of the year in MVC play and second-highest overall in the Beacons' win over Illinois State, delivering 28 assists on just 57 set attempts. Thomas, who is just four assists shy of 500 for the season, also notched three service aces over Valpo's two matches last weekend to bump her season total to a team-best 32 aces - tied for sixth-most by a Valpo player in the 25-point era and one shy of a tie for fourth.

Steady Gove: Freshman Jordyn Gove had solid back-to-back matches last weekend in the pair of wins, posting 13 kills and nine digs in the win over Bradley and following with 14 kills and nine digs in the victory against Illinois State. Gove, who ranks second on the team in Valley player with 2.76 kills/set, has tallied at least seven kills in all eight MVC matches she has appeared in, including five efforts of 10 or more kills.

Moan's Block Party: Junior Maddie Moan has been called upon to start in the middle the last two weekends and has made her presence felt defensively. Prior to the last four matches, Moan's career best in blocks was five, but she is averaging that over the Beacons' last four victories. She set a career high last Friday with six rejections in the win over Bradley, and also had five blocks both at Belmont and last time out versus Illinois State.

The Rookies Produce: Valpo's freshman class has been leaned on for major production all season long. The Beacons' rookies have accounted for 61.2% of the team's kills, 29.4% of the aces and 76.4% of the blocks this year. That comes out to a total of 60.2% of the team's points accounted for by freshmen, a mark which ranks third nationally, trailing only Mississippi Valley State and Le Moyne. Freshmen have combined for 30 matches with double-figure kill totals and 19 matches with five or more blocks.

Near the Top: Junior Emma Hickey currently ranks third in D-I in both total digs (511) and digs/set (5.62). With 1,874 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 1,316 career digs. In fact, Hickey ranks 22nd 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 fourth in the conference and 19th nationally in digs/set. What's perhaps more eye-popping, however, is how many other categories Valpo is ranked highly in. The Beacons currently sit second in the MVC in kills/set (40th nationally), assists/set (32nd nationally), aces/set and opponent hitting percentage (52nd nationally), as well as third in blocks/set.