Valparaiso (0-0, 0-0 MVC)
at Chattanooga Classic (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
Friday, Aug. 28 - vs. UAB (0-0) - 11 a.m. CT | at Chattanooga (0-0) - 5 p.m. CT
Saturday, Aug. 29 - vs. Tennessee State (0-0) - 2 p.m. CT

Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: The Valpo volleyball team kicks off the 2026 campaign this weekend at the Chattanooga Classic, where the Beacons will take on UAB and Tennessee State in addition to the host Mocs.

Looking Ahead: Valpo comes home to the ARC next weekend to host the Popcorn Classic.

Following the Beacons: Friday's match against Chattanooga is scheduled to be streamed on ESPN+. Live stats will be available for all matches this weekend via ValpoAthletics.com.

Series History: UAB - Friday marks the third meeting all-time between the two programs - UAB prevailed 3-0 in a September 1991 meeting in Indianapolis, while Valpo earned a 3-0 win in Carbondale, Ill. in September 2009.

Chattanooga - Valpo is 2-0 against the Mocs, winning 3-0 in Bloomington, Ind. in September 2012 and 3-2 as part of the 2015 Chattanooga Classic.

Tennessee State - First meeting

Scouting the Opposition: UAB - The Blazers are coming off a 13-15 season in 2025, posting a 6-10 record in American Conference play. UAB was selected to finish in 13th place in this year's American preseason poll.

Chattanooga - The Mocs went 16-13 in 2025, including a 10-6 mark in SoCon action. Chattanooga was picked fifth in this year's SoCon preseason poll.

Tennessee State - The Tigers finished 2025 with a 1-30 record, going 0-18 in the OVC. TSU was selected ninth in this season's OVC preseason poll.

Looking Back at Last Year: Valpo is coming off a 21-9 campaign in 2025, including a 12-4 mark in MVC play - good for a tie for second place in the conference standings, the program's best finish since joining the Valley. Emma Hickey was named MVC Libero of the Year, MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region and a Second Team Academic All-Americna as she wrapped up her career ranked 17th in NCAA D-I history in career digs, while Sam Warren and Ava Helming joined Hickey as First Team All-MVC honorees.

Preseason Picks: Valpo was picked to finish third in the MVC in 2026 in the preseason polling of the conference's head coaches, trailing only UNI and Drake - it is the program's highest preseason projection since joining the Valley in 2017. Junior Ava Helming was honored as a preseason All-MVC honoree as well.

Who's Back: The Beacons return 10 letterwinners from last year's 21-win squad, a group which accounted for 50.3% of the team's kills, 49.7% of the service aces, 46.3% of the blocks and 39.6% of the digs in 2025.

Who's Gone: Valpo lost six seniors to graduation, most notably a pair of First Team All-MVC honorees in Emma Hickey and Sam Warren, as well as setter Addy Kois, who closed her career 10th in program history in career assists. The Beacons also had two players transfer out as well.

Who's New: This year's squad features seven newcomers - five true freshmen and a pair of transfers.

Winning Tradition Continues: The Beacons secured a winning 2025 season as they completed the campaign with an 21-9 record, the program's 22nd winning season in the last 24 years. Valpo has won 20 or more matches in 19 of those 24 seasons as well.

Top Half Finishes: The Beacons finished the 2025 regular season in a tie for second place in the MVC standings with Drake, trailing only UNI in the final table. Valpo 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, Valpo has posted top-half conference finishes in 32 of the last 33 seasons.

Digging Deep: Valpo continued its long tradition of strong back row play last fall, finishing the 2025 campaign 20th nationally with an average of 16.50 digs/set. The program has ranked among the top-30 nationally in digs/set in every season since 2009, including 15 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 and three of the top-20 athletes in D-I history in career digs - Rylee Cookerly (2nd; 3,175), Taylor Root (10th; 2,752) and Emma Hickey (17th; 2,665).

Libero Dominance: Hickey's Libero of the Year accolade continued a remarkable string of accomplishments by Valpo liberos. Since the position was introduced to NCAA volleyball, Valpo has had six regular liberos - all six of whom have claimed at least one conference Libero/Defensive Player of the Year award: Sara Silcox was the 2003 Mid-Con Libero of the Year, Brittany Malicoat was the 2007 and 2008 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, Taylor Root was the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year in 2010, 2011 and 2012, Morganne Longoria earned the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year honor in 2016 and Rylee Cookerly was MVC Libero of the Year in 2019 and spring 2021. In all, the six liberos have combined for 10 major conference awards.

Capturing Crowns: Part of the volleyball program's winning tradition has been a penchant for capturing tournament titles. Valpo has won 36 in-season tournament titles over the last 24 seasons, including the USI Invitational and the Lehigh Steel Classic title last season. The team has won at least one tournament in 18 of those 24 seasons, and multiple tournaments 12 times. Those tournament titles have come in 14 different states.

We've Played in That Before: All four of this season's early tournaments are at locations the Valpo program has previously played. Valpo opened the 2015 campaign by winning the Chattanooga Classic in its only previous appearance and went a perfect 3-0 at its previous appearance at the Akron/CSU co-hosted tournament in 2023. Valpo also went 3-0 at a tournament co-hosted by Niagara in 2007, but the co-host that year was Buffalo, while this year's is Canisius. And of course, Valpo has plenty of experience playing in tournaments on its home floor - this season's Popcorn Classic marks the 33rd in-season tournament Valpo has hosted in program history.

At the (Helm)ing: Junior right side Ava Helming is back for more after a stellar first half of her collegiate career. After earning MVC All-Freshman Team honors as a rookie, Helming took a leap forward last season to finish as a First Team All-MVC honoree. She led the Beacons with 364 kills and led all qualified players with a .323 hitting percentage - those numbers rank 10th and eighth, respectively, among Valpo players in a single season in the 25-point era, while she also moved into sixth in both kills/set (3.25) and points/set (3.58) in that era. Helming ranked eighth in the MVC in kills/set, eighth in points/set and 12th in hitting percentage. She hit double figures in kills 23 times, including 11 efforts of at least 15 kills, and paced Valpo in kills on 15 occasions.

Don't Hit it at Pickett: Junior middle Jessica Pickett continued to be a dominating presence at the net last year defensively. Despite missing six matches due to injury, Pickett racked up 95 blocks, with her average of 1.14 blocks/set ranking second in the MVC and moving her into second in program history for a single season in the 25-point era. Pickett has racked up 234 blocks in her first two collegiate seasons, a number which has her on pace to finish her career second in program history in the category. She is no slouch on the attack either when she gets chances out of the middle, as she ranked ninth in the MVC with a .302 hitting percentage.