Valparaiso (17-4, 5-4 MVC)
Friday, Oct. 21 - at Missouri State (6-15, 3-6 MVC) - 6 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 22 - at Southern Illinois (14-7, 7-2 MVC) - 5 p.m.
Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: The Valpo volleyball team opens the second half of the MVC schedule with another challenging road weekend, as the Beacons will trek down to Missouri State Friday night and then hit Southern Illinois on their way back Saturday evening.
Previously: Valpo dropped consecutive matches for the first time all season last weekend, falling in four sets at both Drake and UNI.
Looking Ahead: After two weekends away from the friendly confines of the ARC, the Beacons return home next weekend to host Evansville and Indiana State.
Following the Beacons: Both matches this weekend will be broadcast live on ESPN3. In addition, both matches will have live stats available via ValpoAthletics.com.
Head Coach Carin Avery: In her 21st season as head coach at Valparaiso, Carin Avery has won 466 matches (466-221, .678) at the helm of the program and has led Valpo to three league regular season and tournament titles. The program has made five postseason appearances under Avery, including three NCAA Tournament appearances, and advanced to the championship match of the 2021 NIVC. A two-time league Coach of the Year, Avery has coached 58 All-League recipients over her tenure at Valpo, which has spanned three different conferences. She is Valpo’s all-time leader in both victories and winning percentage, and owns a 521-245 (.680) record overall as a head coach.
Series History: Missouri State - The Bears hold a 9-4 advantage in the all-time series and are 7-4 since Valpo joined the MVC. The Beacons snapped MSU's four-match winning streak in the series with a home sweep last October to earn a split of the season series, as the Bears won in four sets in Springfield earlier last season.
Southern Illinois - Valpo is 8-5 all-time against the Salukis, including a commanding 8-2 series lead since joining the Valley. The Beacons have won the last three in the series, including a four-set win in Carbondale and a sweep at the ARC last season.
Scouting the Opposition: Missouri State - The Bears enter Friday's match 6-15 overall and 3-6 in MVC play after falling in straight sets to SIU on Monday night. Manuela Ibarguen leads the team and ranks seventh in the Valley with 3.53 kills/set, while Kate Owen ranks eighth in the conference with a team-best 3.81 digs/set.
Southern Illinois - Picked to finish last in the preseason poll, the Salukis have been one of the big surprises of the first half of MVC play, as they enter the weekend tied for second in the conference standings at 7-2. SIU leads the Valley with 14.29 kills/set and ranks second, hitting at a .248 clip. Imani Hartfield leads all MVC players with a .382 hitting percentage, while Anna Jaworski paces the conference with 11.45 assists/set.
Valpo Picked Fifth in Preseason Poll: The Beacons have been picked to finish in fifth place in the MVC standings in 2022 in preseason polling of the conference's head coaches. Valpo garnered 95 points in the polling, including one first-place vote, to rank fifth in a tight bunch in the middle of the pack. Valpo was just four points behind Bradley in fourth position, but on the other side, was just one point ahead of UNI in sixth place. Notably, Valpo has outperformed its preseason projection in each of its first five seasons in the Valley.
Illinois State received five first-place votes and totaled 134 points to lead the poll ahead of Evansville (121 points, two first-place votes). UIC (3) and UNI (1) also picked up at least one first-place nod.
Looking Back at Last Season: Valpo enjoyed one of the top seasons in program history last year, finishing the campaign with a 26-10 record. The Beacons posted a 12-6 record in MVC action to finish tied for third place in the regular season standings - the program's best record in conference play and best finish since joining the Valley. Valpo then earned a berth in the NIVC and swept each of its first four matches to advance to the tournament championship match. Haley Hart was a First Team All-MVC recipient, while Peyton McCarthy and Rylee Cookerly each earned Second Team All-MVC honors. Cookerly also became the first student-athlete in program history to be named a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American.
Winning Ways: As of the end of play Tuesday, Valpo's 17 victories were tied for seventh-most among all Division I programs. The Beacons have already clinched their 19th winning season in Avery’s 21 seasons at the helm and are closing in on the 20-win mark for the 17th time under Avery. In addition, Valpo has finished in the top half of the MVC standings in each of its first five seasons in the conference - a feat only matched by Illinois State - and has posted top-half conference finishes in 28 of the last 29 years.
A Look at the RPI: The NCAA released its third weekly RPI of the season on Monday, and Valpo comes in at #79 in the rankings, one of four Valley schools in the top-100. UNI sits at #43, Drake at #72 and UIC at #88.
Second-Half Success: Sitting at 5-4 and in a tie for fourth place in the MVC standings halfway through the conference slate is a good position for Valpo to be in if the team can replicate the second-half success its had in previous Valley seasons. In its first five seasons in the MVC, Valpo posted a cumulative 21-24 record in the first half of Valley play and improved that mark to 28-17 in the second half of those conference campaigns. Notably, the Beacons' top two records since joining the MVC have both come after going 5-4 in the first half of conference play, as the 2018 team went 6-3 in the second half to finish 11-7 and last year's squad went 7-2 in the second half to finish 12-6.
Consistency From Hickey: A big part of Valpo's strength in the back row has been its run of standout liberos, and freshman Emma Hickey has slotted right into that role this season and maintained the prolificacy. Despite the pair of losses last week, Hickey continued to rack up the digs, posting a team-high 24 at Drake and a match-best 27 at UNI. Hickey has registered 20 or more digs in 16 of Valpo's 21 matches, including eight of the last nine. She ranks fifth nationally, averaging 5.56 digs/set ‑ the only freshman among the top-35 in the nation. She enters this week just 33 digs away from already reaching 500 on the season.
Record Book Watch: While Hickey is still quite far away from cracking Valpo's single-season top-10 in digs, a few of her teammates are in position to make moves onto the program's top-10 charts. Mallory Januski is on pace to easily best the program's single-season hitting percentage record, as her .364 clip would best the overall record of .334 (Nicole Schulz, 2006) and far surpass the 25-point era record of .307 (Kelsey Victor, 2014). Meanwhile, fellow middle Miranda Strongman is just a few attacks shy of having enough to qualify for the hitting percentage chart and her current .300 hitting percentage would also earn a spot. Also, with a team-best 24 service aces, Victoria Bulmahn is just five aces shy of moving into the top-10 in the 25-point era in that category.
Reaching Milestones: Earlier this season, Bella Ravotto became the 23rd player in program history to record at least 1,000 career digs. With 1,154 digs entering this weekend, Ravotto currently ranks 19th in program history in that department. Meanwhile, Victoria Bulmahn enters this weekend with 1,884 career assists, on pace to become just the 10th player in program history with at least 2,000 career assists by the end of the season.
Players of the Week: Hickey has earned a trio of weekly awards from the MVC office this year to lead the Beacons, as she has twice been named Defensive Player of the Week to go with one Freshman of the Week honor. In all, Valpo players have earned five conference weekly accolades this season. Junior middle Mallory Januski was named MVC Player of the Week following her MVP weekend at the Roadrunner Classic, making her Valpo's third weekly award winner in 2022, while senior outside Bella Ravotto was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 12 following her performance over Valpo's three wins at the Akron Invitational. In its sixth season as an MVC school, Valpo has earned 26 weekly conference honors.
Standout Performances: A number of standout efforts this year have cracked Valpo's single-match records. Most recently, in Valpo's Oct. 8 win over Belmont, the Beacons totaled 117 digs - fourth-most in a five-set match by Valpo in the 25-point era. Valpo was led in that match by Emma Hickey, whose 37 digs are second-most by a freshman in program history and fifth in a five-set match in the 25-point era. And while it didn't impact the record book, Elise Swistek also had 31 digs in that match, as it was the first time in program history two Valpo players have both tallied 30+ digs in the same match.
Mallory Januski found her way into Valpo's record book in the UIW match Sept. 16, posting a hitting percentage of .688 - the second-highest in a five-set match by a Valpo player in the 25-point era. It was a team performance which cracked the record book Sept. 9, as the Beacons posted 15.5 total team blocks in their win at Akron - fourth-most in a four-set match by a Valpo squad in the 25-point era and the most blocks Valpo has recorded in any length match since Nov. 15, 2019. On Sept. 3, senior Gretchen Kuckkan delivered 25 kills in Valpo's four-set win over Northern Illinois - tied for fourth-most in a four-set match by a Valpo player in the 25-point era and making her one of just five Valpo players to tally 25+ kills in any length match in the 25-point era.
Digging Deep: Valpo continued its long tradition of strong back row play last fall, finishing 15th nationally and leading the MVC with 17.13 digs/set. The program has ranked among the top-30 nationally in digs/set in each of the last 11 seasons, highlighted by the 2017 campaign in which it led the nation with 20.03 digs/set. Other top finishes include third 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. It's been more of the same so far this year, as the Beacons are ranked fifth nationally and lead the MVC with 17.40 digs/set.
So Much Balance: It just goes to show how balanced this year's Valpo team is on the attack that , you have to scroll all the way down to 20th place within the Valley to find the Beacons' top producer of kills so far this season - Kara Cooper, with 186 kills. There is just a spread of 40 kills between her and the fifth-highest Beacon in the category, as Cooper, Bella Ravotto, Mallory Januski, Maddy Boyer and Elise Swistek all have between 146 and 186 kills. The balance has been even more prevalent within MVC play, as six different players (the aforementioned five, plus Miranda Strongman) have between 57 and 85 kills through nine conference matches. In fact, Cooper's team-best average of 2.24 kills/set within MVC-only action doesn't even crack the top-30 in the conference.
Best Start: With the five-set win over UIW to open up the Roadrunner Classic, Valpo improved to 10-0 on the season, breaking a tie with the 2015 squad for the most consecutive wins to start a season in program history. The Beacons went on to start 12-0, the winningest start to a season by any current MVC program since Drake opened the 2010 campaign with 14 consecutive victories.
The Winning Streak: Of course, the 12-0 start meant that Valpo opened the season with 12 consecutive victories. This winning streak is one of six double-digit winning streaks in program history and stands alone as the fourth-longest all-time at Valpo. The 2004 team holds the program record with 14 consecutive wins, while the 2008 and 2014 squads both had streaks of 13 straight wins.
Winning Four Titles: Valpo's win at the Roadrunner Classic gave this year's team four in-season tournament titles this season, an unprecented accomplishment in the history of Valpo volleyball. Previously, Valpo had won three in-season tournaments on four occasions (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018). Valpo has now won 33 in-season tournament titles in head coach Carin Avery's 21 seasons at the helm of the program, including its home tournament seven times (out of 11 opportunities). The team has won at least one tournament in 16 of her 21 seasons, and multiple tournaments 11 times. Those tournament titles have come in 14 different states, with the Roadrunner Classic the first in program history in Texas.
All-Tournament Honors: Setters Victoria Bulmahn and Addy Kois joined MVP Mallory Januski on the All-Tournament Team at the Roadrunner Classic for their work running the Valpo offense. Perhaps apropos given the balance of this year's squad through the nonconference slate, nine different Beacons earned All-Tournament accolades at the three tournaments where an All-Tournament Team was named. Senior Gretchen Kuckkan was MVC of the Popcorn Classic and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by fellow seniors Maddy Boyer and Kara Cooper. On opening weekend at the Youngstown Invitational, sophomore Elise Swistek was awarded the MVP award, while senior Bella Ravotto and freshman Emma Hickey picked up All-Tournament accolades.
Leaving a Strong Legacy: Valpo graduated five seniors from last year's squad, a group which was integral in the program's transition into the Missouri Valley Conference and made a pair of postseason appearances. The group of Brittany Anderson, Rylee Cookerly, Gabby Daniels, Haley Hart and Peyton McCarthy combined for eight All-Conference honors and led the Beacons to the championship match of the NIVC in their final season at Valpo. They enjoyed numerous individual accolades as well, highlighted by Cookerly - the two-time MVC Libero of the Year finished her collegiate career as the Valpo and the MVC career record holder in digs and ranks second in NCAA D-I history. McCarthy ranks second all-time at Valpo in blocks and eighth in kills - the only player in the top-eight in both categories - while Anderson is third in program history in career assists and Hart sixth in career hitting percentage.
Who's Back: Despite the loss of such a talented group, the Beacons do return plenty of experience, as 10 letterwinners from last year's squad are back in 2022. One spot Valpo returns plenty of experience is on the pins. Outside hitters Bella Ravotto and Elise Swistek and right sides Maddy Boyer and Kara Cooper were all starters throughout MVC play and in the NIVC last season. In addition, outside hitter Jillie Grant and Gretchen Kuckkan were starters during the non-conference portion of the schedule before suffering injuries right around the start of MVC action. While Valpo loses Cookerly out of the back row, the Beacons still enter 2022 with a strong back line. Ravotto averaged over three digs per set last year, is nearing 1,000 digs for her career and was MVC Defensive Player of the Week during the spring 2021 season when filling in for a weekend at libero. In addition, Swistek averaged over three digs per set as a rookie last season as well. Meanwhile, at setter, Victoria Bulmahn split time setting with Anderson in a 6-2 last season after earning MVC Freshman of the Year accolades for the spring 2021 season setting full time in a 5-1.
Who's New: The roster is rounded out by seven newcomers to the active roster. Setter Addy Kois and hitter Sam Warren both redshirted last fall in their first season at Valpo. The Beacons welcome a pair of transfer middles to the squad - senior Miranda Strongman (LIU) and junior Olivia Blackketter (Winthrop). Three freshmen round out the newcomers, highlighted by Emma Hickey - the first AVCA High School All-American to sign with Valpo in program history. Outside Sophia Foster and middle Claire Campbell enter their first collegiate season as well.
Conference Honorees: While Victoria Bulmahn was named MVC Freshman of the Year during the spring 2021 campaign and transfer Miranda Strongman was a Second Team All-NEC choice that same season, this year's roster features zero players who have earned First or Second Team All-Conference accolades in the Valpo uniform. The last time Valpo entered a season with no players who had been named First or Second Team All-Conference at Valpo was the 2006 season - that year's team ended up featuring future Valpo Athletics Hall of Famer Angie Porché as a freshman.
