Valparaiso (15-12, 7-8 MVC)
Friday, Nov. 15 - Indiana State (4-23, 1-14 MVC) - 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 16 - Evansville (6-21, 5-10 MVC) - 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 19 - UIC (18-9, 10-5 MVC) - 6 p.m.

Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: The Valpo volleyball team wraps up the regular season with three home matches in a five-day stretch, hosting Indiana State on Friday night, Evansville on Saturday evening and UIC on Tuesday night. Saturday's match against the Purple Aces will serve as the program's Senior Night.

Previously: The Beacons hit the road for the final time in the regular season last weekend, falling in five sets at second-place Drake and straight sets at conference-leading UNI.

Looking Ahead: Should Valpo qualify for the MVC Tournament, it would head to Cedar Falls, Iowa for the tournament beginning next Saturday, Nov. 23.

Following the Beacons: All three matches 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 504 matches (504-255, .664) 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 559-279 (.667) record overall as a head coach.

Series History: Indiana State - Valpo owns the 19-16 edge in the all-time series with the Sycamores, an advantage which is extended to 9-4 since Valpo joined the Valley. The Beacons have swept the Sycamores in each of their last three meetings, including a 3-0 win in Terre Haute earlier this year in which Valpo hit .287 and limited ISU to .063 hitting. The Beacons' balanced offense featured five different players between five and nine kills, while Emma Hickey had 19 digs and Jessica Pickett tallied five blocks.

Evansville - Valpo holds a 16-14 advantage in the all-time series, including an 11-4 mark over the Purple Aces since joining the MVC. In this season's first matchup, however, it was Evansville which got the better of the Beacons, defending their home court in a five-set victory despite Valpo hitting .257 to the Purple Aces' .165 clip.

UIC - Valpo owns a 31-30 overall record against the most-common opponent in program history and is a commanding 22-11 against the Flames under Coach Avery. But it is UIC which has earned victories in all six meetings since the Flames joined the Valley, including a 3-0 sweep in Chicago earlier this season. 

Scouting the Opposition: Indiana State - The Sycamores come into Friday's match at 4-23 overall and 1-14 in MVC play. Ella Scott ranks fifth among MVC players with 0.96 blocks/set.

Evansville - The Purple Aces enter the weekend at 6-21 overall and with a 5-10 record in the Valley, with a Friday match at UIC before coming to the ARC Saturday. Evansville boasts the nation's leader in kills/set in Giulia Cardona (5.60).

UIC - The Flames come into the final stretch of Valley games at 10-5 in MVC action and 18-9 overall. Zahria Woodard leads all MVC players in both hitting percentage (.428) and blocks/set (1.43), while Kayanna Jones ranks second in the Valley in hitting percentage (.418).

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).

Celebrating the Seniors: Valpo will recognize its pair of seniors on Senior Night following Saturday night's match against Evansville. Elise Swistek enters the weekend having appeared in 117 matches for the Beacons, racking up 960 kills and 1424 digs, while Abby Boyle has appeared in 88 matches, tallying 105 digs and 21 assists.

Making the Tournament: While the Beacons have not yet clinched a spot in the eight-team MVC Tournament field, they enter the final stretch of conference play in good shape. One win would all but assure Valpo a spot in the field, and two victories would clinch a spot. If Valpo goes 3-0 over the final three regular season matches, a top-four seed and the corresponding opening-round bye could potentially be in play.

Record Book Watch: As the season starts to wind down, multiple players are or will be impacting the program's single-season record book. With 33 aces, Mara Thomas is tied for fourth in a single season in the 25-point era, while Jessica Pickett's .332 hitting percentage would rank third overall and second in the 25-point era. Emma Hickey enters the final stretch of regular season action just 37 digs away from cracking the top-10 in that category in the 25-point era. 

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.

Racking Up the Kills: While freshman Ava Helming didn't rack up the kills last weekend at the rate she has through MVC play, she was much improved this time around against the conference's best teams. After posting just 1.43 kills/set on .073 hitting the first time Valpo faced UNI and Drake, Helming averaged 2.00 kills/set on .256 hitting last weekend. For the season, Helming has totaled 249 kills, the most by a Valpo freshman since Allison Ketcham recorded 249 kills in 2014 and tied for fifth-most by a Valpo freshman in Carin Avery's tenure. Helming's 66 blocks are also ninth-most by a Valpo freshman in Avery's tenure as well. Over the last month, Helming has once earned MVC Player of the Week honors and twice been named MVC Freshman of the Week.

Block Party For Pickett: Freshman Jessica Pickett recorded six blocks over Valpo's pair of matches last weekend and is now up to 111 on the season, just three shy of the program's single-season top-10 chart in the 25-point era. Pickett, who also has the most blocks by any Valpo freshman in Avery's tenure, has tallied at least six rejections in all seven weekends of Valley play.

The Rookies Produce: Valpo's freshman class has been leaned on for major production all season long. The Beacons' rookies have accounted for 59.9% of the team's kills, 29.7% of the aces and 74.8% of the blocks this year. That comes out to a total of 59.1% of the team's points accounted for by freshmen, a mark which ranks third nationally, trailing only Mississippi Valley State and Le Moyne. Prior to this season, none of Avery's teams in her time at Valpo have had freshmen combine for even 30% of the team's points.

Another Milestone Upcoming: Junior Emma Hickey enters the final three regular season matches with 1,954 career digs - not only just four digs away from moving into fifth place in program history, but 46 shy of the 2,000-dig milestone for her career. Having played 93 career matches heading into Friday's contest against Indiana State, Hickey is poised to potentially become the quickest in both MVC history (Courtney Pence, Illinois State, 96) and Valpo history (Rylee Cookerly & Taylor Root, 101) to reach MM career digs.

Near the Top: Hickey currently ranks third in D-I in digs/set (5.63) and third in total digs (591). With 1,954 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 1,406 career digs. In fact, Hickey ranks 20th nationally overall among D-I players in career digs.