Valparaiso (8-4, 0-0 MVC)
Friday, Sept. 25 - Belmont (3-8) - 6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 26 - Illinois State (9-2) - 7 p.m.

Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: With nonconference play in the books, the Valpo volleyball team kicks off Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend with a pair of home matches as part of Homecoming and Family Weekend. The Beacons welcome Belmont to the ARC Friday evening before hosting Illinois State Saturday night.

Previously: Valpo captured the WNY Invitational last weekend, sweeping Le Moyne and Niagara before closing the weekend with a 3-1 win over Canisius. It marked the Beacons' second tournament crown of the season.

Looking Ahead: Valpo remains at the ARC for a midweek match next week against UIC before taking its first road trip in Valley play for a Friday evening match at Southern Illinois.

Following the Beacons: Both of this weekend'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: Belmont - Valpo owns a 6-2 advantage in the all-time series with the Bruins, including a 5-2 mark since Belmont joined the MVC. Last season, the Beacons rallied from down two sets to earn a 3-2 win at the ARC before the Bruins won via sweep in Nashville.

Illinois State - The Redbirds own a 15-7 advantage in the all-time series, including a 13-5 record since Valpo joined the MVC. Last season, both matches went the full five sets, with the road team emerging victorious in both contests.

Scouting the Opposition: Belmont - The Bruins enter MVC play with a 3-8 record, most recently dropping 3-1 decisions last weekend in Nashville to Vanderbilt and Lipscomb. Erin McMullen ranks third in the Valley with a .376 hitting percentage while contributing better than two kills per set, while Alexia Smollen is fourth among MVC players with 1.08 blocks/set.

Illinois State - The Redbirds enter the weekend with a 9-2 record, having swept both Marist and Oakland last weekend in their most recent action. Ruth Ziegler leads all Valley players with 0.73 service aces/set and also ranks seventh in the conference with a .340 hitting percentage, while Jillian Ferrill averages 2.92 kills/set, good for eighth in the MVC.

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 this past 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.

An Early Indicator: Since Valpo joined the MVC prior to the 2017 season, its performance in the first few matches of conference play has been a strong indication of how the rest of the Valley slate will fall. Each of the four seasons Valpo has started with at least two wins in its first three MVC matches, it has finished with a winning record in the Valley, while in the four seasons (excluding the COVID-affected spring 2021 campaign) Valpo has dropped at least two of its first three MVC matches, it has finished at or below .500 in the conference.

Playing Their Aces: The Beacons had their serving game on point right from the start of the season, racking up 13 service aces in the season-opening win over UAB - second-most by a Valpo team in the 25-point era for a five-set match. Then last weekend, Valpo tallied 14 service aces in the win over Le Moyne - the program's most in a sweep in the 25-point era - and 11 more in the sweep of Niagara - tied for fifth in a three-set match in the 25-point era. Valpo currently leads the MVC and ranks 23rd nationally with 2.07 aces/set.

Individual Serving Success: Freshman Rylee Bumgardner posted five service aces in her collegiate debut against UAB, tied for second in the 25-point era in a five-set match. Junior Maggie Uhwat matched that mark last weekend against Canisius in a four-set match, moving into a tie for second in the 25-point era on that chart. Uhwat also recorded three service aces in each of last weekend's other two matches and is up to 26 aces on the season, good for 15th nationally and already just six away from cracking the program's single-season top-10 in the 25-point era.

Big Kill Advantages: Not only did Valpo have its serving game on point last weekend, the Beacons also rode large advantages in the kill department to their three victories. Valpo was +26 in kills in the win over Le Moyne (44-18), +14 in the win over Niagara (41-27) and +14 in the win over Canisius (53-39). The 18 kills in the Le Moyne match were the fewest by a Valpo opponent since Sept. 1, 2007, when St. Francis (N.Y.) posted just 17 kills

One-Two Punch: The combination of junior outside Jordyn Gove and junior right side Ava Helming has consistently paced the Beacons' attack this year. Gove currently ranks third in the MVC with 3.80 kills/set, with Helming close behind her in fifth with 3.73 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 has three 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.

High Efficiency: Already a very efficient hitter out of the middle, junior Jessica Pickett enjoyed her most efficient weekend of the season on the attack last weekend, racking up 19 kills on 35 swings while committing just two attack errors - good for a .486 hitting percentage. She capped the weekend with 11 kills on .476 hitting in the win over Canisius, just one kill off her career high. On the season, Pickett ranks second in the MVC with a .405 hitting percentage - a mark which would break the program's single-season record by over 50 points.

Digging It Up: Freshman Rylee Bumgardner has taken a hold on the libero role over the past couple weekends for the Beacons. After averaging just 2.20 digs/set over the first two weeks of the season, Bumgardner has averaged 4.59 digs/set over the last two weeks - reaching double figures in digs in all six matches, including a season-best 29 at Akron. The freshman's season average of 3.45 kills/set currently ranks eighth in the Valley.

A Lethal Attack: Valpo's win over Oakland came in large part due to the Beacons' efficiency on the attack. Valpo hit .320 with 70 kills in the win over the Golden Grizzlies - the kill total is tied for second in a four-set match by Valpo in the 25-point era, ironically matching a total against Oakland back on Nov. 21, 2015, while the hitting percentage ranks fourth in a four-set match in the 25-point era. Valpo outkilled Oakland by a 70-38 margin, the program's biggest advantage in that department since being +33 (76-43) in a win over Wake Forest Sept. 6, 2008. The Beacons' .320 hitting percentage was the fifth-best in program history when compiling at least 70 kills.

Setting It Up: The Beacons ran a 5-1 in that win over Oakland, and sophomore Olivia Wagner took full advantage playing all the way around at setter. Wagner dished out 57 assists, tied for second-most in a four-set match by a Valpo player in the 25-point era and just one shy of the record. Her assist total was the program's highest since Victoria Bulmahn tallied 57 assists at Drake March 1, 2021. Wagner was efficient as well, ending the night with a setting percentage of .514. Wagner's 57 assists more than doubled her collegiate career total, as she entered the night with 55 assists to her name. She also recorded a career-high 10 digs to finish with her first collegiate double-double. On the other end of Wagner's sets more often than not were Ava Helming (24 kills) and Jordyn Gove (22 kills), becoming the first pair of Valpo players to each hit 20 kills in the same match since Feb. 14, 2021 against Southern Illinois, when Jaclyn Bulmahn notched 23 kills and Jillie Grant 22.