Valparaiso (12-12, 4-8 MVC)
Friday, Nov. 6 - at Indiana State (9-14, 3-9 MVC) - 5 p.m. CT
Saturday, Nov. 7 - at Evansville (4-20, 1-11 MVC) - 4 p.m.

Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: It's another weekend on the road for the Valpo volleyball team, as the Beacons complete the Hoosier State road swing this week with matches Friday at Indiana State and Saturday at Evansville.

Previously: The Beacons split their pair of matches last week in central Illinois, falling to Illinois State in four sets before sweeping Bradley.

Looking Ahead: Valpo closes the regular season next weekend at home against Drake and UNI.

Following the Beacons: Friday's match will be broadcast on ESPN+ as part of The Valley on ESPN, while Saturday's match will not be broadcast. Live stats will also be available for both matches via ValpoAthletics.com.

Series History: Indiana State - Valpo owns a 21-17 lead in the all-time series, including an 11-5 mark since joining the MVC. The Beacons had won five straight matchups in the series before the Sycamores earned a 3-2 win at the ARC earlier this season - a win which came despite a 25-4 second set win by Valpo.

Evansville - Valpo holds an 19-14 lead in the all-time series, but has dominated since joining the MVC in 2017, winning 14 of 18 matchups in that time. In the first meeting this season, the Beacons prevailed in four sets at the ARC, with numerous individuals posting career highs - highlighted by a 24-kill night from Jordyn Gove.

Scouting the Opposition: Indiana State - The Sycamores enter Friday's match with a 9-14 overall record and sit at 3-9 in MVC action, coming off a 3-0 sweep of Evansville in midweek competition last week before falling in four sets to UNI. Curry Kendall (2.87 kills/set) and Kira Holland (2.86 kills/set) rank seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Valley in kills, while Corinne Knapp leads the conference in service aces with 0.47/set.

Evansville - The Purple Aces come into the week with a 4-20 overall record and a 1-11 mark in MVC play, having dropped their last nine matches - most recently a four-set loss on Saturday to UNI. Evansville takes on Murray State Friday evening before the matchup with the Beacons on Saturday. Savannah Gogel sits fourth among Valley players with 1.03 blocks/set, while Carsyn Kelley is third in assists with 8.67/set.

Seven Out of Eight: This weekend's matches wrap up a stretch in which Valpo has played seven out of eight matches on the road - after playing at home on October 9, the Beacons' match at the ARC on October 24 versus Indiana State is their only home match since then. While it's not unusual for the program to play its entire nonconference schedule away from home, as it has done as so as recently as last year, this is the first time in program history that it is playing seven road matches in an eight-match stretch within conference action.

A Look at the Standings: With only six teams making the MVC Tournament, the Beacons are still in the mix for a tournament berth, but face an uphill climb. Valpo currently sits two games back of UIC for the sixth spot in the conference standings with four to play, and should it reach or surpass UIC, would also need to finish with a better record than Southern Illinois, as the Salukis won the only regular season matchup.

Clean Play: Valpo snapped its losing streak with its sweep last Saturday at Bradley thanks in large part to playing error-free volleyball. The Beacons committed just 16 attack errors, nine fewer than the Braves, and only eight of those were non-block errors - their second-lowest total within Valley play. Valpo also avoided mistakes on both sides of the service game. When it came to delivering the serves, it committed just two service errors — its second-lowest total this year. Meanwhile, on the reception side, the Beacons received 57 serves without committing an error. It was the first time this season Valpo has held its opponent without a service ace.

One Milestone Hit...: With her third block of the contest Oct. 22 at UIC, junior Jessica Pickett reached the 300-block milestone for her collegiate career. Pickett became the 16th player in program history to reach that milestone, and with 313 career blocks entering the week, is just 45 away from cracking the program's career top-10 chart.

...and Another Nears: Junior Ava Helming is about to hit a milestone of her own as well. After tallying 27 kills over last weekend's pair of matches, Helming enters this week's action with 998 career kills, just 29 away from becoming the 21st member of Valpo's 1,000-kill club. Helming has reached double figures in kills in 12 consecutive matches, and dating back to last season, she has tallied at least 10 kills in 16 straight regular season MVC contests. She also hit the 200-block milestone for her career last weekend as well.

25-4: It was a set unlike any other played in the rally scoring era at the ARC, as the Beacons held Indiana State to just four points in the second set of their match Oct. 24. That mark ties the fewest points Valpo has surrendered in a set (excluding fifth sets), as it previously won the opening set 25-4 at Wright State on Oct. 29, 2011. Maggie Uhwat served 16 consecutive points to close the 25-4 win over the Sycamores, a mark which according to the NCAA Record Book is tied for the 10th-most consecutive points served in D-I history.

Perhaps a Record?: Not only did Pickett reach the 300-block milestone for her career recently, she has been strong on the attack over the last two weekends as well. The junior has posted the two highest single-match kill totals of her career in that stretch, with 15 at Illinois State and 14 versus Indiana State, and has hit .429 over the last four matches. That has boosted her season hitting percentage to .368, a mark which if the season ended today would set the program single-season record for hitting percentage. Mallory Januski currently holds the record at .353, a mark which itself is 19 points higher than second place.

Play That Ace: This year's Valpo squad has been among the best in program history in terms of service aces. The Beacons are currently averaging 1.70 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 approach the program's best from the 30-point era as well (1.87 aces/set). Already this season, four individual performances and four team performances have cracked the single match top-five charts for aces, while Maggie Uhwat has already breached the program's single-season top-five for aces in the 25-point era and is just four away from second position. As a team, the Beacons's season total of 158 aces is already fourth-most in the 25-point 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 3.72 kills/set, with Gove close behind her in sixth with 3.25 kills/set. Gove, who entered the season with a career high of 16 kills, has surpassed 20 kills five times already this season, including a career-best 24 kills against Evansville. Meanwhile, Helming has had 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