After a strong opening weekend of Missouri Valley Conference play, the Valpo volleyball team had a pair of players recognized with weekly awards from the conference office. Sophomore Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) was named the MVC Player of the Week, while senior Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) was tabbed the MVC Defensive Player of the Week.
 
Pickett stood out in the middle on both sides of the net, hitting .391 with 2.88 kills/set and a team-best 1.50 blocks/set over the pair of matches and ranking among the Valley's top-10 for the week in blocks/set, points/set and hitting percentage. She opened the weekend by hitting .500 with 11 kills — just one off her career best — and six blocks in the win over Drake, and followed the next night against UNI with a team-best 12 kills to match her career high, as well as six blocks.
 
Hickey was steady as over for the Beacons in the back row over the pair of matches, averaging 6.25 digs/set — best among MVC players for the weekend — and committing just one serve reception error on 45 attempts. She registered a match-best 27 digs, as well as seven assists, in the Friday win over Drake before tying for match-high honors with 23 digs Saturday versus UNI.
 
The defense of Hickey and Pickett was a big part of the Beacons' defensive success in the opening weekend of conference play. Valpo held Drake to .087 hitting on Friday evening and then limited UNI to .101 hitting on Saturday — the Panthers' lowest hitting percentage against a conference foe since March 2021. Valpo also became the first MVC program to tie or win the total points battle in a match with UNI since Drake in the 2022 MVC title match.
 
Hickey's honor was her second of the season, the sixth Defensive Player of the Week accolade of her career and her seventh weekly award overall from the conference office. Pickett's award was the first conference weekly award of her collegiate career.