Valparaiso (20-7, 11-3 MVC)
Friday, Nov. 14 - Illinois State (12-14, 7-7 MVC) - 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 15 - Bradley (13-13, 7-7 MVC) - 6 p.m.

Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: The Valpo volleyball team closes out the regular season this weekend as the Beacons host Illinois State and Bradley at the ARC, the latter match serving as the program's Senior Night. With one win or one Drake loss this weekend, the Beacons will secure the #2 seed for the MVC Tournament.

Previously: The Beacons split a pair of matches last weekend in their last regular season road trip, as they were swept by Belmont - their first time this year falling in straight sets - before rebounding with a sweep win at Murray State.

Looking Ahead: Valpo has secured a home MVC Tournament match - if it is the #2 seed, it will be a semifinal match at 6 p.m. on Nov. 22; if it is the #3 or #4 seed, it will be a first-round match at 6 p.m. on Nov. 19.

Following the Beacons: Both matches this week are scheduled to be streamed on ESPN+ and will have live radio broadcasts 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 527 matches (527-264, .666) 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 582-288 (.669) record overall as a head coach.

Series History: Illinois State - The Redbirds own a 14-7 advantage in the all-time series, including a 12-5 mark since Valpo joined the MVC. The Beacons have won the last three matchups, however, including a five-set win in Normal earlier this season - Valpo won the first two sets in that match before ISU won the next two to force the decisive fifth set. Ava Helming led a Beacon attack which had four players in double figures with 17 kills, while Emma Hickey racked up 37 digs.

Bradley - Valpo holds an 19-12 edge in the all-time series against the Braves, including an 11-5 mark since joining the Valley. The Beacons have won seven in a row in the series, including a five-set win in Peoria earlier this season - the fifth time in the last six meetings that Valpo has won in five sets. Helming paced Valpo with 21 kills in that victory, with Sam Warren adding 16 kills.

Scouting the Opposition: Illinois State - The Redbirds own a 12-14 overall record and are 7-7 in MVC play, sitting in a three-way tie for fifth place in the Valley standings. ISU has won its last four matches, all in three sets. Khenedi Guest ranks third among MVC players, averaging 1.15 blocks/set, while Arianna Rossi is third in the Valley with 4.52 digs/set.

Bradley - The Braves are also in that three-way tie for fifth place in the Valley standings with a 7-7 MVC record and a 13-13 overall mark, having won five of their last six matches. Maria Drapp is the MVC leader in assists/set (9.76), while Irene Mostardini ranks fifth in digs/set (4.27).

Celebrating the Seniors: Valpo will recognize a group of six seniors for their contributions to the program on Senior Night Saturday in a post-match ceremony after taking on Bradley - Claire Campbell, Emma Hickey, Addy Kois, Maddie Moan, Kendal Ramey and Sam Warren.

Into the Tournament...: By virtue of their win at Evansville, the Beacons secured their spot in the MVC Tournament. Valpo has advanced to its conference tournament in each of Carin Avery's 24 seasons at the helm of the program.

...and with a Home Match: Valpo also clinched a top-four seed for the MVC Tournament two Saturdays ago. With that comes the right to host at least either a semifinal (if the Beacons finish as the 2nd seed) or a first-round match (if the Beacons finish 3rd or 4th). Whichever it is, it will be the first volleyball conference tournament match at the ARC since Valpo's win over Oral Roberts in the 2005 Mid-Continent Conference title match.

How to Secure the Second Seed: With two matches to play, Valpo is one game up on Drake in the loss column for second place and two games up on UIC. Since the Beacons have the head-to-head tiebreaker over both Drake (Valpo won the lone regular season matchup) and UIC (split the season series, Valpo 4-3 advantage in sets won), as well as a potential three-way tiebreaker with both teams (head-to-head records: Valpo 2-1, UIC 2-2, UIC 1-2), they will be the second seed with the combination of one Valpo win or Drake loss.

20 Wins Once Again: With its win at Murray State last time out, Valpo hit the 20-win milestone for the season - the program has won 20 or more matches in 19 of Carin Avery's 24 seasons and has averaged 22 wins per season in Avery's tenure. The Beacons secured a winning 2025 season with its home win over Murray State in mid-October, the 22nd winning season in 24 years under Avery. 

MVC Success...: Valpo has continued its run of success in conference play again this season, as the program has now finished in the top-half of the Valley standings in each of its nine years in the conference, the only MVC program to accomplish that feat. Going back further into the Horizon League and Mid-Continent Conference days, Valpo has posted top-half conference finishes in 23 of Avery's 24 seasons and 32 of the last 33 years overall. 

...and This Year is the Best: Entering this weekend with an 11-3 record, Valpo has already secured its best record and best finish within MVC play since joining the conference - the 2021 team finished in a tie for third at 12-6. If the Beacons can finish in second place, it would be the program's first second-place league finish since 2013 in the Horizon League. Avery's teams have finished in second place in the league regular season standings six times - four times in the Horizon and twice in the Mid-Con.

Done in Three: For a team which seemingly could do nothing but go the full five sets just a month ago, Valpo has been much more efficient lately, as each of its last five matches have been done in three sets. It is the first time the program has played five consecutive three-set matches since the Beacons' run to the title match of the NIVC in 2021, which saw them win four straight sweeps before succumbing to UNLV in the championship in straight sets.

Streaks Come to an End: The Beacons' loss at Belmont on Friday snapped a pair of streaks. It was the team's first three-set loss of the season, as Valpo had been 10-0 in three-set contests entering last weekend. It also snapped a streak of eight consecutive true road matches won, which tied a program record.

Road Warriors: Valpo bounced back from the Belmont loss with a sweep of Murray State Saturday, closing out its road slate in MVC play this season with a 7-1 record. It is the program's best performance on the road in MVC play since joining the Valley, and its best record on the road in any conference play since the 2004 NCAA Tournament team went 7-0 in Mid-Con road matches.

Digging It and Killing It: The Beacons rank among the nation's best on both sides of the ball this season. Valpo currently leads the the MVC rankings with 16.76 digs/set, a mark which ranks 14th nationally, while it is second in the Valley and 11th nationally with 14.21 kills/set and second in the Valley and 10th nationally with 13.16 assists/set. Notably, that kills mark would be the program's best kills/set average in a season since 2015.

Into the Top 20: Senior Emma Hickey, who is ranked sixth nationally this year with 5.18 digs/set, continued her march up the NCAA D-I career digs chart last week by moving into the top-20. Entering this weekend with 2,606 career digs, Hickey currently is tied for 19th in D-I history, just 88 digs away from the top-15. She is also just 50 digs away from former UNI standout Ellie Blankenship for fourth in MVC history in the category. Hickey leads all active NCAA players (all divisions) in career digs and owns 665 more digs than any other active Division I player.

Kois' Helping Hands: Senior Addy Kois cracked Valpo's career top-10 chart in assists on Saturday with her third assist in the Beacons' sweep of Murray State. Kois dished out 41 assists over last weekend's two matches, giving her 2,605 career helpers. The senior posted setting percentages of .606 at Belmont and .525 at Murray State last weekend, giving her eight matches this season where she has registered a setting percentage above .500.

The Right Stuff: Sophomore right side Ava Helming, who has been pacing the Beacons' attack all season long, had her second record book performance of the season last Friday at Belmont. Helming paced the Beacons with 11 kills, doing so on just 14 swings as she hit at a .714 clip - tied for third-best by a Valpo player in a three-set match in the 25-point era. Helming, who followed with 13 more kills on .385 hitting in the sweep of Murray State, has led Valpo in kills 14 times this season and ranks eighth in the Valley with 3.36 kills/set. She has been in double figures in kills in 12 of Valpo's 14 MVC matches, including eight times with 15 or more kills.

Something About Those Racers: Senior right side Sam Warren has absolutely crushed it this season in Valpo's two wins over Murray State. In the home win, Warren racked up a career-best 22 kills - the most by a Valpo player since September 2022 - on just 33 swings, finishing with a .576 hitting percentage. Then last Saturday, Warren fired off 15 more kills on .565 hitting as the Beacons swept the Racers. Warren hasn't been too shabby against the rest of Valpo's opponents either, as she sits just outside the Valley's top-10 with 2.91 kills/set - the senior has raised that average to 3.30 kills/set within MVC-only play, ninth-most among Valley players.

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. 74.4% of the team's kills and 75.5% of the team's blocks have come courtesy of the underclassmen.

Players of the Week: Valpo has claimed nine MVC weekly awards this season.
- Despite playing just three sets in both of the weekend's matches, Emma Hickey extended her streak of 20+ dig matches to five straight, as she tallied exactly 20 digs in both the sweep at Indiana State and the sweep at Evansville, to earn her fifth Defensive Player of the Weke honor Nov. 3. Hickey's defensive work, which also included 17 serve receptions without an error, contributed to the Beacons holding their opponents to just 11.67 kills/set on .141 hitting in the pair of wins. With nine career Defensive Player of the Week awards, Hickey is tied with Blankenship for third-most in conference history.
- Hickey picked up her fourth award of the year Oct. 27, as she averaged 7.14 digs/set, leading all players with 29 digs against UIC and 21 against Southern Illinois, and handled 21 serve receptions without an error. 13 of Hickey's 21 digs versus SIU came in the third set alone, tying her career best for a single frame. 
- Sophomore Ava Helming earned MVC Player of the Week honors for the second time in her career Oct. 13. She hit .520 with 15 kills in Valpo's wins at UIC and at SIU, becoming the first Valpo player to hit at least .500 with 15 or more kills in consecutive matches since Allison Sears in October 2008. 
- Hickey was named Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this year 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