Valparaiso (17-13, 9-9 MVC)
at MVC Tournament (Cedar Falls, Iowa)
Saturday, Nov. 23 - vs. Murray State (14-13, 9-9 MVC) - 6 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 24 - vs. UIC (21-9, 13-5 MVC) - 6 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 25 - vs. Drake (20-9, 16-2 MVC) - 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 26 - MVC Title Match - 4 p.m.

Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: The Valpo volleyball team team heads to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa this weekend as the sixth seed in the eight-team field. The Beacons, who open tournament play against seventh-seeded Murray State, will have to win four matches in four days to claim the tournament title.

Previously: Valpo posted a 2-1 record in its three-match homestand over a five-day stretch to close the regular season, taking down Indiana State in four sets and Evansville in three sets before falling to UIC in five sets in the regular season finale.

Looking Ahead: The winner of the tournament earns the MVC's automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The NIVC is also a potential postseason landing spot for Valley teams.

Following the Beacons: Every tournament match 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 506 matches (506-256, .664) at the helm of the program and has led Valpo to three league regular season and three league 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 561-280 (.667) record overall as a head coach.

Series History: Murray State - 7-2 overall; 7-2 under Coach Avery; 3-2 since MSU joined MVC
1-0 in MVC Tournament: 2022 first round - W 3-1
1-0 this season: 10/18 at MSU - W 3-1 - Carin Avery's 500th win at Valpo - Swistek 16 kills, .324, 12 digs; Helming 14 kills, .379; Pickett 8 kills, .400, 6 blocks

UIC - 31-31 overall (most-common opponent in program history); 22-12 under Coach Avery; 0-7 since UIC joined MVC
0-1 in MVC Tournament: 2022 second round - L 3-0
0-2 this season: 10/8 at UIC - L 3-0 - Brumitt 11 kills; Warren 10 kills; Hickey 18 digs
11/19 at Valpo - L 3-2 - Warren/Helming team-high 9 kills each; Thomas 29 assists, 17 digs; Hickey 24 digs; Pickett 6 blocks

Drake - 13-9 overall; 12-8 under Coach Avery; 9-7 since joining MVC
0-2 this season: 10/5 at Valpo - L 3-1 - Swistek 15 kills, 22 digs; Warren 13 kills; Brumitt 12 kills; Merk 10 kills, .364; Hickey 33 digs
11/8 at Drake - L 3-2 - Swistek 15 kills, 11 digs; Warren 11 kills; Kois 27 assists, 13 digs; Hickey 26 digs

Tournament History: The Beacons enter the 2024 MVC Tournament with a 4-6 record since joining the Valley in conference tournament play. Valpo had won its opening-round matchup in each of its last four appearances at the tournament before falling in last year's tournament opener to Belmont. Valpo has qualified for the MVC Tournament in each of its eight seasons in the Valley, but did not compete at the spring 2021 tournament after qualifying as the fifth seed, as it was forced to withdraw due to COVID-19 issues.

Winning Tradition Continues: Valpo secured a winning 2024 season with its home win over Indiana State last weekend, the 21st winning season in 23 years under head coach Carin Avery. The Beacons are also just three wins shy of the 20-win milestone, which would be the 18th 20-win campaign in Avery's 23 seasons. Valpo has averaged 22 wins per season in Avery's tenure.

Top Half Finishes: The Beacons finished the regular season in a tie for sixth place in the MVC standings with Murray State. Valpo has now finished in the top-half of the Valley standings in each of its eight years in the conference, the only MVC program to accomplish that feat. Going back further, Valpo has posted top-half conference finishes in 22 of Avery's 23 seasons - as well as qualifying for the conference tournament in each of her 23 seasons - and 31 of the last 32 years overall.

The Conference Ledger: Taking a look at the Beacons' results in MVC play, while they were unable to nick a match from the top three teams in the final regular season standings (0-6), they showcased their ability to play right with the Valley's best, as they pushed UNI, Drake and UIC to five sets in one matchup apiece - UNI especially notable as the Panthers dropped just three other sets in MVC action. Valpo posted a perfect 3-0 mark against the teams immediately surrounding it in the standings, in fourth through seventh place, but played each of those teams just once apiece. The Beacons' effort to finish higher up the standings was thwarted as they went just 6-3 against the conference's bottom five squads.

Among the Valley's Best: It's no surprise that Valpo ranks among the top teams in the MVC in digs/set, coming into the tournament in third in the Valley in that category (17th nationally). But compared with past years, the Beacons have found themselves higher up the rankings in a number of other categories. Valpo comes into tournament play second in the MVC in opponent hitting percentage (48th nationally), third in aces/set and blocks/set and fourth in kills/set (61st nationally) and assists/set (60th nationally).

The Rookies Produce: Valpo's freshman class has been leaned on for major production all season long. The Beacons' rookies have accounted for 59.2% of the team's kills, 31.4% of the aces and 72.8% of the blocks this year. That comes out to a total of 58.6% of the team's points accounted for by freshmen, a mark which ranks third nationally among D-I programs, 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 account for even 30% of the team's points. This year's rookies have combined for 33 matches with double-digit kill totals and 22 outings with at least five blocks. 

2000: A Digging Odyssey: Junior Emma Hickey reached yet another milestone with a dig late in the first set of the regular season finale against UIC, registering her 2,000th  career dig. It came in the 96th match of her collegiate career, matching former Illinois State standout Courtney Pence as the quickest to the milestone in MVC history. She also surpassed Rylee Cookerly and Taylor Root, who both reached the mark in their respective 101st career match, as the quickest in Valpo history to 2,000.

Near the Top Nationally: Hickey currently ranks third in D-I in digs/set (5.63) and third in total digs (659), and is poised for a third straight season ranking among the top-10 nationally in total digs and the top-15 in digs/set. With 2,022 career digs, Hickey has far and away the most digs of any active D-I junior, as number two on that list - Montana State's Lauren Lindseth - sits at 1,447 career digs. In fact, Hickey ranks 18th nationally overall among active D-I players in career digs.  

Libero U: It's crazy to think that having 2,022 career digs is only good for fifth in program history, but the number of talented four-year liberos Valpo has boasted over the past two decades means that's the case for Hickey. Hickey will likely have to wait until next season to surpass Morganne Longoria for fourth, who is over 200 digs ahead of her, while Brittany Malicoat, Taylor Root and Rylee Cookerly sit even higher on the program's digs chart. Valpo is the only MVC school which boasts five players with 2,000+ digs, while Murray State is the only other one which has even had four. In fact, four MVC programs have never had a player reach 2,000 digs and two others have just one apiece.

Senior Stalwart: With so many youngsters being asked to contribute this year, Elise Swistek has been the constant veteran presence on both sides of the ball for the Beacons. The senior ranks 14th in the conference in kills/set and 12th in digs/set, one of only two MVC players in the top-15 in both categories. Valpo's go-to hitter this year, Swistek has paced the Beacons in kills 19 times after doing so just 20 times over her first three seasons, while 21 of her 47 career matches with 10 or more kills have come this season. She enters the MVC Tournament 13th in program history with 1,452 career digs, and with 992 career kills, she is just eight away from becoming the 20th player in program history to reach four figures in kills. Swistek also needs just five more kills to crack Valpo's single-season top-10 in the 25-point era.

At the Helm(ing): Freshman right side Ava Helming has been perhaps the most consistent of the Beacons' contingent of newcomers this season. Helming ranks second on the team with 269 total kills, averaging 2.45 kills/set on .259 hitting as she has posted 10 or more kills 10 times this year. Her 74 total blocks rank second on the squad as well. Her 269 kills are fourth-most by a freshman in head coach Carin Avery's tenure, while her 74 blocks are sixth-most by a freshman under Avery - the only other Valpo freshman to rank in the top-10 in both was another right side in Morgan Beil, who turned out to be a three-time All-League performer in the Horizon League.

The Pickett Fence: Redshirt freshman middle Jessica Pickett has not only been the most dominant rookie at the net defensively in Carin Avery's tenure at Valpo, she's been one of the most dominant players, period. Pickett has totaled 126 blocks this year, far and away the most by a freshman under Avery as number two comes in with 97 rejections. She already ranks seventh in the 25-point era at Valpo in the single-season block department and is just four away from cracking Valpo's overall top-10 chart. Pickett has also proven quite efficient on the attack as well, as her .342 hitting percentage would rank second in a single season in program history.

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 169 aces through 30 matches, averaging 1.43 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. The 169 total aces are third-most in a season in the 25-point era, just five aces shy of second. 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.

Digging Deep: Valpo has continued its long tradition of strong back row play this fall, as the Beacons enter the MVC Tournament ranked 17th nationally with 17.15 digs/set. The program has ranked among the top-30 nationally in digs/set in every season since 2009, including 13 seasons among the top-20 and four seasons among the top-10 - highlighted by the 2017 campaign in which Valpo led the nation with 20.03 digs/set. Other top finishes include fourth nationally in the spring 2021 season (20.37/set), a fourth-place rank in 2010 and a sixth-place finish in 2015. Since the move to 25-point scoring, only seven teams have averaged more than 20 digs/set over the course of a season, and Valpo is the only program to have done it twice. 2018 saw Valpo lead the nation with 2,613 total digs - a mark which set a program single-season record and a Division I record in the 25-point era. Valpo also boasts two of the top-10 athletes in D-I history in career digs - Rylee Cookerly (2nd; 3,175) and Taylor Root (9th; 2,752).