Valparaiso (9-7, 1-3 MVC)
Tuesday, Oct. 8 - at UIC (10-6, 2-2 MVC) - 6 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 11 - Southern Illinois (8-8, 1-4 MVC) - 6 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 12 - Missouri State (7-10, 1-4 MVC) - 5 p.m.

Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: The Valpo volleyball team faces a busy week, with three matches on the docket to close out a stretch of five matches in nine days. A short trip to Chicago to take on UIC is first up Tuesday evening before the Beacons come back home to host Southern Illinois and Missouri State this weekend.

Previously: Taking on two of the Valley's top programs, Valpo battled well last weekend in their first MVC home matches of the year, taking two-time defending champion UNI to five sets before dropping a four-set match to Drake.

Looking Ahead: The Beacons head south next weekend, making the road trip to Murray State and Belmont.

Following the Beacons: All three matches this week will be broadcast live on ESPN+. All 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 (498-250, .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 553-274 (.669) record overall as a head coach.

Series History: UIC - Valpo owns a 31-29 overall record against the most-common opponent in program history and is a commanding 22-10 against the Flames under Coach Avery. But it is UIC which has earned victories in all five meetings since the Flames joined the Valley, including both matchups last year - a 3-1 decision at Valpo and a three-set sweep in Chicago.

Southern Illinois - Valpo is 11-5 all-time against the Salukis, including a commanding 11-2 series lead since joining the Valley. The Beacons have won the last five in the series, including a three-set sweep at the ARC and a four-set win in Carbondale last season.

Missouri State - The Bears hold a 10-6 advantage in the all-time series, including an 8-6 mark since Valpo joined the Valley. Last year, however, both matches went the way of the Beacons, as Valpo outlasted the Bears for a five-set win at the ARC before sweeping MSU in Springfield.

Scouting the Opposition: UIC - The Flames sit at 10-6 overall and are 2-2 in Valley play after falling to Drake and UNI last weekend. UIC boasts the conference's top two attackers in terms of hitting percentage in Kayanna Jones (.436) and Zahria Woodard (.423). Woodard also ranks second among MVC players with 1.17 blocks/set.

Southern Illinois - The Salukis enter the week at 8-8 overall, but are just 1-4 in MVC action after being swept by Bradley and losing in four sets to Illinois State last weekend. Kelly Franklin leads the attack with 2.85 kills/set, while Cecelia Bulmahn - younger sister of Valpo volleyball alums Jaclyn and Victoria - paces the back row with 4.23 digs/set.

Missouri State - The Bears - who play UIC on Friday before Saturday's matchup at the ARC - are 7-10 overall and 1-4 in MVC play, picking up their first MVC win last time out with a four-set win over Bradley. Aniya Joseph ranks fourth in the Valley, averaging 3.97 kills/set.

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. 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 on Tuesday with last weekend's action presents a young Valpo squad with a challenging stretch of matches. UNI and Drake are both now 4-0 in MVC play and were picked first and third, respectively, in the Valley preseason poll, while UIC was picked second.

30x2: For the second time in her career, junior libero Emma Hickey posted at least 30 digs in back-to-back matches last weekend, tallying a match-high 34 digs in the showdown with UNI and following with 33 digs against Drake. Hickey, who ranks seventh in program history in career digs, moved into third place on the program's single-match chart for a four-set match in the 25-point era with her effort against Drake. Meanwhile, her performance against UNI marked the highest number of digs by a Panther opponent since Evansville's Gabriela Macedo notched 34 digs in September of 2019.

Brumitt's Back Row: Freshman Kadence Brumitt entered last weekend with just one double-digit dig total to her credit through the season's first 13 matches, but easily hit double figures in both of the weekend's matches. Brumitt tallied a season-best 16 digs on Friday versus UNI before coming back with a 15-dig night Saturday against Drake. Brumitt also registered 12 kills against Drake - one shy of her season best and good for her first collegiate double-double.

Shutting the Door: The Beacons racked up 13 team blocks on Friday against UNI - one shy of their season best in the category. Freshman Lilly Merk led the way with a season-high seven rejections, while fellow rookie Ava Helming also set her season best with six blocks. Freshman Jessica Pickett was part of five blocks as well, the seventh time this season she has totaled at least five rejections. 

Leading the Way: Junior Emma Hickey currently leads the nation in total digs, racking up 362 digs to date. Her average of 5.84 digs/set ranks third nationally as well. With 1,725 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 1,223 career digs. In fact, Hickey ranks 26th 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 12th 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 opponent hitting percentage (40th nationally), while ranking second in kills/set (44th nationally), aces/set 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 57.8% of the team's kills and 78.1% of the team's blocks to date this year. Freshmen have combined for 16 matches with double-figure kill totals and 13 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 107 aces through 16 matches, averaging 1.70 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.