Valparaiso (9-7, 1-3 MVC)
Thursday, Oct. 8 - Evansville (4-12, 1-3 MVC) - 6 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 9 - Murray State (2-14, 0-4 MVC) - 6 p.m.

Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: The Valpo volleyball team closes out a stretch in which it plays four out of five matches at home with two more matches at the ARC this week, hosting Evansville for a rare Thursday evening affair before taking on Murray State Friday evening.

Previously: Valpo earned its first MVC win of the year last Wednesday with a 3-1 win over UIC, but then succumbed in five sets on Friday at Southern Illinois after winning the first two sets.

Looking Ahead: After facing UNI and Drake only once apiece last season, the Beacons will make the Iowa road swing for the first time since 2024 Oct. 16-17.

Following the Beacons: Both of this week's matches will be broadcast on ESPN+ as part of The Valley on ESPN. Live stats will also be available via ValpoAthletics.com.

Series History: Evansville - Valpo holds an 18-14 lead in the all-time series, but has dominated since joining the MVC in 2017, winning 13 of 17 matchups in that time. Notably, the Beacons won all four meetings in 2021 - two regular season, one in the first round of the MVC Tournament, and one in the quarterfinals of the NIVC. In last year's only meeting, Valpo came away victorious in straight sets at Evansville.

Murray State - Valpo owns a 10-2 lead in the all-time series versus the Racers, including a 6-2 mark since Murray State joined the MVC. Two of those wins for the Beacons came last season, as they earned a four-set win at the ARC and a sweep in Murray.

Scouting the Opposition: Evansville - The Purple Aces come into Thursday's meeting with a 4-12 overall record this year and sit at 1-3 in MVC play, splitting last weekend with a four-set win at Murray State and a three-set loss at Belmont. Evansville has two of the top four in the MVC in terms of hitting percentage (Ryan Scheu, 3rd, .362; McKenzie Laubach, 4th, .359), while Carsyn Kelley ranks third in the Valley with 8.74 assists/set.

Murray State - The Racers sit at 2-14 overall and are 0-4 in MVC play, with a four-set defeat versus Evansville and a five-set loss to Indiana State last weekend. Anne Makowski ranks sixth among MVC players in kills/set (3.21) and Ada Tamturk ranks sixth in digs/set (3.71).

Hoosier State Crown: Thursday's match versus Evansville is the first of the season for the Beacons against a fellow program from Indiana, and kicks off the unofficial MVC Hoosier State crown series. Valpo has dominated the series against both Evansville and Indiana State since joining the Valley, posting the best record against the other two Indiana-based programs six times in the nine seasons it has been in the conference, including each of the last three years. UE and INS have posted the best record once apiece in that span, while all three teams were 2-2 against each other in the spring of 2021. Valpo is 24-8 against UE and INS since joining the Valley.

Play That Ace: This year's Valpo squad has been among the best in program history in terms of service aces. The Beacons currently rank 34th nationally with 1.91 aces/set, a mark which is on pace to easily smash the program's best average in the 25-point era, which sits at 1.46 aces/set. In fact, it would better the program's best from the 30-point era as well (1.87 aces/set). Already this season, three individual performances and three team performances have cracked the single match top-five charts for aces.

Putting Up the Block: Last Saturday's match at Southern Illinois featured the Beacons' top blocking performance of the season, as they racked up 14 team blocks. Leading the way was junior Jessica Pickett, who racked up nine rejections - one shy of her career best and one away from her first career double-double. Ava Helming tied her career high with seven blocks, Maddie Steele was one off her season best with five and Olivia Wagner surpassed her career best with four.

Efficient Hitting: For the second time this season, Valpo had a match which cracked the program's top-five charts in the 25-point era for hitting percentage, as the Beacons hit at a .299 clip in the home match against Illinois State - fourth-best in a five-set match in this era. Leading the way was Maggie Uhwat, who posted a career-best 17 kills while hitting .577 - good for fourth in a five-set match on the program's individual single-match chart. Earlier this year, Valpo hit .320 in a four-set win over Oakland, which ranks fourth for a four-set match in this era, and also had 70 kills in that match - second-most in a four-set match in this era.

One-Two Punch: The combination of junior outside Jordyn Gove and junior right side Ava Helming has consistently paced the Beacons' attack this year. Helming currently ranks third in the MVC with 3.71 kills/set, with Gove close behind her in fifth with 3.35 kills/set. Gove, who entered the season with a career high of 16 kills, has surpassed 20 kills four times already this season, including two matches with 22 kills. Meanwhile, Helming also has four matches with at least 20 kills, including a career-best 28 kills against Cleveland State - a mark which ties the most by a Valpo player in the 25-point era.

Player of the Week: Helming was named the MVC Player of the Week Sept. 14 following a weekend in northeastern Ohio where she averaged an MVC-best 4.62 kills/set on .261 hitting, highlighted by her career-high 28-kill effort in the win over Cleveland State. It is the third MVC Player of the Week honor of Helming's career, as she had one apiece as well in each of her first two seasons.

Capturing Crowns: Part of the volleyball program's winning tradition has been a penchant for capturing tournament titles, and that continued in 2026, as the Beacons claimed the Chattanooga Classic on opening weekend and the WNY Invitational in the season's fourth weekend. Valpo has won 38 in-season tournament titles since the start of the 2002 campaign. The team has won at least one tournament in 19 of those 25 seasons, and multiple tournaments 12 times. Those tournament titles have come in 14 different states. 

All-Tournament Honors: The Beacons had four players receive All-Tournament Team accolades over their two tournaments which presented an All-Tournament Team:
Valpo - Jordyn Gove
Chattanooga - Gove (MVP), Ava Helming, Maggie Uhwat