Valparaiso (14-5, 5-1 MVC)
Friday, Oct. 17 - Belmont (13-4, 4-2 MVC) - 6 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 18 - Murray State (3-12, 1-5 MVC) - 5 p.m.

Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: After playing 17 of its first 19 matches of the season away from home, the Valpo volleyball team comes home to the ARC for four home matches in a nine-day span, starting with contests Friday against a Belmont squad which enters the weekend right behind Valpo in the conference standings and Saturday versus Murray State.

Previously: The Beacons concluded their four-match road stretch with two more victories last week, sweeping a UIC squad picked to finish second in the MVC this year before earning a gritty five-set victory despite playing shorthanded at Southern Illinois.

Looking Ahead: Valpo stays at home next week, with rematches against UIC (Oct. 21) and Southern Illinois (Oct. 25) on the docket.

Following the Beacons: Both matches this week are scheduled to be streamed on ESPN+, while Friday's match will also have a radio broadcast on WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso). Live stats are also available for both matches via ValpoAthletics.com.

Head Coach Carin Avery: In her 24th season as head coach at Valpo, Carin Avery is the all-time winningest head coach across all sports in the history of Valpo Athletics. She has won 521 matches (521-262, .665) 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 61 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 576-286 (.668) record overall as a head coach.

Series History: Belmont - Valpo holds a 5-1 edge in the series over the Bruins, including a 4-1 record since Belmont joined the Valley. In last season's lone meeting in Nashville, the Beacons pulled off an epic comeback to come away with the victory, as trailing two sets to one and 23-17 in the fourth, they ended the fourth set on a 9-1 run and then blitzed Belmont in the fifth set, 15-4.

Murray State - Valpo owns an 8-2 advantage in the all-time series over the Racers, including a 4-2 mark since Murray State joined the MVC. Two of those victories for the Beacons came last season, as Valpo took a 3-1 win at Murray in the lone regular season meeting - Carin Avery's 500th win in charge of the Valpo program - and then matched the result in the opening round of the MVC Tournament.

Scouting the Opposition: Belmont - The Bruins come into Friday's match just behind Valpo in the MVC standings, with a 4-2 record in Valley play and a 13-4 overall record. Belmont was swept by Illinois State last weekend, but rebounded with a sweep of Indiana State. Brooke Gilleland leads the MVC and ranks among the national leaders with 0.64 aces/set and is also fourth in the Valley with 3.61 kills/set, while Erin McMullen ranks among the MVC's best in hitting percentage (.363, 3rd) and blocks (0.98/set, 7th).

Murray State - The Racers are 3-12 on the year overall and 1-5 in MVC play, but earned their best result of the season last time out as they topped Illinois State in five sets last Saturday. Ella Vogel paces the Racers and ranks second among Valley players with 3.77 kills/set.

The Road is Our Home: Two weeks, four matches on the road, no problem for the Beacons, who returned to Valpo with four straight road wins to improve to 5-1 in MVC play. The four road victories came within an nine-day span, the second time in the last three years the Beacons have accomplished that feat, as they did so in 2023 as well - prior to that, the last time they did so was in 2008.

So This is the ARC?: When Valpo steps on the court at the ARC Friday night, it will be just the Beacons' third home match of the season, as they have played 17 of the season's first 19 matches away from home. By calendar date, Oct. 17 will be the latest date into a season that Valpo has played just its third home match since 1996, when the team's third home match came on Nov. 8 as it played just four home matches total that season. After playing just two home matches in the first month and a half of the season, the Beacons will play four home matches in a nine-day span.

Go the Distance: Giving the fans their money's worth seemed to be a theme of Valpo's recent road swing, as three of the Beacons' four wins (Illinois State, Bradley, Southern Illinois) went the full five sets. You have to go back to early 2021 to find the last time Valpo won three matches in a four-match span by 3-2 finals, part of a stretch to open the season where it won five times in five sets over the first eight matches. The Illinois State and Bradley matches came on back-to-back nights - it had been since 1992 since Valpo won 3-2 in back-to-back conference matches (Oct. 17 vs. Green Bay; Oct. 27 at UIC) and since 1988 since it had done so on consecutive days (Oct. 21 vs. Marquette, Oct. 22 vs. Green Bay).

0-2 to 3-2: The most recent win at Southern Illinois came in dramatic fashion, as the Beacons trailed two sets to none, and then after rallying to force a fifth set, trailed 5-2 in the decisive frame. It was the 26th time in Coach Avery's time at the helm of the Valpo program that it has forced a fifth set after trailing 2-0, and the 15th time it has completed the comeback, winning 3-2.

Record-Setting Attack: The Beacons blew a program record out of the water in that win over SIU, hitting at a .340 clip in Saturday's victory with 71 kills and just 17 attack errors - easily the best hitting percentage in a five-set match in program history. Valpo's previous high in a five-set match in the 25-point era was .306, while its previous high in a five-set match in any era was .311. The Beacons, who finished a match hitting above .300 for the fifth time this year, hit .294 or better in all five sets.

Defense Steps Up Late: The key to the come-from-behind win at SIU was the Beacons' defense stepping up late in the match. After the Salukis hit .385 over the first three sets, they hit just .019 over the final two sets. Looking back over the fifth sets from Valpo's three 3-2 wins over the last two weeks, combined the Beacons hit .342 in those fifth sets while holding their opponents to .171 hitting.

Extinguishing the Flames: Given the recent nature of the series between the two programs, it was notable that the only non-five set result from the recent road swing was a 3-0 Valpo win at UIC. The Beacons had not beaten the Flames since UIC joined the Valley prior to the 2022 campaign (0-8) and had dropped all nine sets over the three matches played in Chicago in that time frame. Error avoidance was at the forefront of last Tuesday's win, as the Beacons committed just five non-block attack errors over the three sets, while the Flames committed 16.

5-1: Approaching the midway point of the conference season, the Beacons sit in second place in the MVC standings with a 5-1 record and could move two games up on third place if they defeat Belmont Friday night. Notably, the 5-1 start comes having played each of the top four teams in the preseason poll once apiece in that stretch. It is the second time Valpo has been 5-1 through six MVC matches since joining the Valley (2018).

Digging It and Killing It: The Beacons rank among the nation's best on both sides of the ball this season. Valpo currently sits second in the MVC rankings with 16.66 digs/set, a mark which ranks 18th nationally, while it is second in the Valley and 21st nationally with 13.92 kills/set. Notably, that latter mark would be the program's best kills/set average in a season since 2015.

The Right Stuff: Sophomore right side Ava Helming has been pacing the Beacons' attack all season long and took it to another level last week, earning MVC Player of the Week honors in the process for the second time in her career. She opened by tying for match-high honors with 15 kills on .520 hitting in the sweep at UIC, and replicated that performance exactly in the win at SIU. She is the first Valpo player since Mallory Januski in September 2022 to hit at least .500 with double-figure kills in consecutive matches, and the first to hit at least .500 with 15 or more kills in consecutive matches since Allison Sears in October 2008. Helming, who has led Valpo in kills 12 times this season, ranks sixth in the MVC with 3.37 kills/set and has raised that mark to 3.77 kills/set in Valley play, good for fourth in the conference.


Warren Racks Them Up: There has been no rest for recent Valpo opponents when Helming has rotated out, because senior Sam Warren has been right there to step in at the right pin. Warren has been in double figures in kills in five of Valpo's six MVC matches, including a career-high tying 17 last time out in the win at Southern Illinois. She also had a pair of 16-kill efforts in the wins at Illinois State and Bradley. 

An Eye on the Record Books: While she "only" had 26 digs over Valpo's two wins last week, Emma Hickey continues to be poised to move up various record books. The senior enters this weekend with 2,455 career digs, which at her career pace, it'll be a photo finish for her to perhaps catch Taylor Root for second place in program history. Other charts to keep an eye on include the MVC career leaders - where she is currently 27 shy of former Missouri State standout Emily Butters for 6th - and the NCAA career leaders - where she is 83 away from the top-25 all-time. Hickey leads all active NCAA players (all divisions) in career digs and owns 664 more digs than any other active Division I player. 

Still Underclassmen: It's easy to forget, given the number of returnees this year's Beacon squad features, that a large number of those returnees are still just sophomores. 76.6% of the team's kills and 77.6% of the team's blocks have come courtesy of the underclassmen.

Players of the Week: With Helming's honor this week, five different Beacons has combined for seven weekly awards from the MVC office this season. Emma Hickey was named Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this year and seventh time in her career after the Illinois State/Bradley road weekend as she averaged 5.60 digs/set and 1.70 assists/set while not committing a serve reception error on 39 attempts. Jessica Pickett was named Player of the Week for the first time in her career and Hickey was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week after splitting the Drake/UNI opening weekend of conference play - Pickett hit .391 over the pair of matches with 2.88 kills/set and 1.50 blocks/set, while Hickey averaged 6.25 digs/set and committed just one serve reception error on 45 attempts. Hickey was recognized as Defensive Player of the Week for the first time this year following the opening weekend of the season, which saw her earn All-Tournament Team honors at the USI Invitational as she averaged 6.60 digs/set and committed just one serve reception error on 49 attempts. On Sept. 15, the Beacons boasted a pair of award winners: Lilly Merk was named Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career after averaging 1.50 blocks/set, highlighted by a 12-block effort in Valpo's upset bid at Northwestern, while Keira Lucas was tabbed Freshman of the Week as she averaged 2.44 kills/set on .302 hitting and 2.00 digs/set while committing just one serve reception error on 49 attempts at the Lehigh Steel Classic.

Capturing Crowns: Valpo continued its penchant for winning in-season tournament titles under Carin Avery this season, claiming a share of the crown at the USI Invitational and sweeping its way to the Lehigh Steel Classic title. Valpo has won 36 in-season tournament titles in Avery's time as head coach. The team has won at least one tournament in 18 of her seasons, and multiple tournaments 12 times. Those tournament titles have come in 14 different states.

All-Tournament Accolades: Over the course of Valpo's four early-season tournaments, six players combined to earn a total of nine All-Tournament Team honors.
- Leatherneck Classic: Emma Hickey, Lilly Merk
- Lehigh Steel Classic: Kadence Brumitt (MVP), Addy Kois
- EMU Tournament: Ava Helming, Merk
- USI Invitational: Helming, Hickey, Sam Warren

New-Look Conference Slate: With MVC membership down to 11 volleyball programs, the conference schedule has been pared back to 16 matches this season, meaning there will be four teams each team plays only once. Valpo's matchups against Drake and UNI on opening weekend were its lone looks at the Iowa-based schools this season, while the Beacons will also face Evansville and Indiana State just once apiece. In addition, the MVC Tournament will feature just six teams this season after previously featuring eight programs.

MVC Success: Valpo is looking to continue its run of success in conference play again this season, as the program has 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.

Looking Back at Last Year: Valpo is coming off an 18-win season in 2024, a campaign highlighted by the amount of production generated by the team's youth. Jessica Pickett set program freshman records for hitting percentage and blocks, while Ava Helming had the third-most kills by a freshman in Avery's tenure as both rookies earned spots on the MVC All-Freshman Team. On the more veteran side, Emma Hickey became the fastest player in program history and tied for the fastest in MVC history to reach 2,000 career digs.

Who's Back: In a nutshell, everybody who could be. All 16 players who ended last season on the Beacons squad with remaining eligibility return for Valpo in 2025. That group accounted for 78.1% of the kills, 84.4% of the service aces, 78.0% of the digs and 93.9% of the blocks from the 2024 season.

Who's Gone: Valpo graduated just two players from last year's squad: Abby Boyle and Elise Swistek. Swistek's production will be the big piece to replace, as she closed her time at Valpo as one of just 10 players in program history to surpass 1,000 kills (1,018; 19th) and 1,000 digs (1,479; 12th).

Who's New: The Beacons welcome two freshmen to the large group of returnees this year. Keira Lucas is an outside hitter who was a three-time All-State honoree at Northview [Ind.] H.S., while Olivia Wagner is a setter who helped lead Lakeville South [Minn.] H.S. to the 2024 Minnesota Class AAAA state championship.

Winning Tradition Continues: The Beacons secured a winning 2024 season as they completed the campaign with an 18-14 record, the 21st winning season in 23 years under head coach Carin Avery. Valpo has won 20 or more matches in 18 of Avery's 23 seasons as well, and has averaged 22 wins per season in Avery's tenure.

Young But Mighty: Legendary college basketball coach Al McGuire is credited for having said "The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores." If that's the case for last year's class of Valpo volleyball freshmen, opponents are in for a rough time this season. Last year's freshman class accounted for 59.1% of the team's kills, 31.1% of the aces and 73.6% of the blocks in the 2024 campaign. That comes out to a total of 58.7% of the team's points accounted for by freshmen last season, a mark which ranked third nationally among D-I programs, trailing only Mississippi Valley State and Le Moyne - two programs which combined for just eight wins, compared with the Beacons' 18 victories. Prior to last season, none of Avery's teams in her time at Valpo had freshmen account for even 30% of the team's points.

Digging Deep: Valpo continued its long tradition of strong back row play last fall, finishing the 2024 campaign 19th nationally with an average of 17.20 digs/set. The program has ranked among the top-30 nationally in digs/set in every season since 2009, including 14 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 (10th; 2,752).

Libero on Lockdown: Senior Emma Hickey has been quite simply one of the nation's most prolific liberos since stepping on campus prior to the 2022 campaign. She's ranked among the top-15 nationally in digs/set in each of her first three seasons, ending last season in third position with 5.72 digs/set. Her 715 total digs last year were sixth-most in a single season in program history.

The Pickett Fence: Sophomore Jessica Pickett made a big impact at the net in her first season of collegiate volleyball last year. An MVC All-Freshman Team honoree, Pickett ranked third in the Valley in blocks/set (1.14, 139 total) and fourth in hitting percentage (.331). She  set Valpo freshman records for both hitting percentage and total blocks - her hitting percentage ranked third overall and second in the 25-point era in Valpo's single-season record book, while he block total ranked eighth overall and third in the 25-point era.

At the Helm(ing): Sophomore Ava Helming joined Pickett as an MVC All-Freshman Team honoree last season for her strong work on both sides of the net at the right pin as a rookie. Helming ranked second on the team with 293 kills and 78 blocks - her 293 kills is tied for third-most by a freshman under head coach Carin Avery, while 78 blocks ranks sixth by a freshman under Avery. The only other freshman to rank among the top-10 in both kills and blocks by a rookie in the Avery era was another right side in Morgan Beil, who developed into a three-time All-Horizon League performer.

Next Stop, 600: Head coach Carin Avery reached yet another milestone last 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. Avery is the second current MVC coach to win at least 500 matches at their current institution, joining UNI's Bobbi Petersen.