Valparaiso (5-2, 0-0 MVC)
Stacheville Challenge (Clarksville, Tenn.)
Friday, Sept. 8 - vs. Indiana (3-3) - noon
at Austin Peay (5-1) - 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 9 - vs. Lindenwood (4-2) - noon
Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: The Valpo volleyball team faces its third early-season tournament of the nonconference slate this weekend, as the Beacons travel to Clarksville, Tenn. for Austin Peay's Stacheville Challenge. Valpo will take on Indiana and Lindenwood in addition to the host Governors.
Previously: Valpo went 3-1 last week, falling in midweek action at Illinois before winning its own Popcorn Classic championship with a 3-0 win over Western Illinois, a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Eastern Michigan and a 3-0 sweep of Oakland.
Looking Ahead: Valpo closes preconference action next weekend at the Purdue Fort Wayne Invitational.
Following the Beacons: Friday evening's match at Austin Peay will be broadcast live on ESPN+, while the other two matches will have no video stream.
Head Coach Carin Avery: In her 22nd season as head coach at Valparaiso, Carin Avery has won 476 matches (476-230, .674) at the helm of the program and has led Valpo to three league regular season and tournament titles. The program has made seven postseason appearances under Avery, including three NCAA Tournament appearances, and advanced to the championship match of the 2021 NIVC. A two-time Mid-Con Coach of the Year, Avery has coached 60 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 531-254 (.676) record overall as a head coach.
Series History: Indiana - Valpo is 1-4 all-time against the Hoosiers, but that one victory came in the last matchup, a 3-2 Valpo win at IU on Sept. 14, 2012 as part of the Hoosier Classic.
Austin Peay - Valpo has won all three matchups against APSU, the last a 3-1 victory over the Governors on Sept. 3, 2016 at the Troy Trojan Invitational.
Lindenwood - First meeting.
Scouting the Opposition: Indiana - The Hoosiers sit at 3-3 entering Friday's match, as they swept all three matches to claim their home tournament on opening weekend before falling at Long Beach State and to UCLA and Washington last weekend. IU posted a 16-16 overall record last season and was 9-11 in Big Ten play.
Austin Peay - The Governors come into the week 5-1 on the season, most recently winning the Lindenwood Invitational with victories over Lindenwood, Indiana State and ULM last weekend. APSU, which will play Chattanooga in mid-week action this week, went 12-15 in 2022 and was 5-11 in ASUN action.
Lindenwood - The Lions are 4-2 on the season after going 2-1 at their home tournament last weekend, falling to APSU and beating ULM and Indiana State. LU, which takes on Southern Illinois on Wednesday, is coming off a 12-17 record in 2022, a mark which includes an 8-10 record in OVC play.
Valpo Picked Sixth in Preseason Poll: Valpo has been picked to finish in sixth place in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2023, according to preseason polling of the conference’s head coaches. The Beacons accumulated 73 points in the polling to come in at sixth position, outpacing Illinois State by two points. UNI claimed seven of 12 first-place votes and nipped Drake by two points for the top spot in the poll.
Looking Back at Last Season: The Beacons enjoyed another successful season in 2022, finishing the campaign with a 22-11 overall record. Valpo posted a 9-9 mark in MVC play to finish in sixth place in the newly-expanded 12-team conference and won a match at the MVC Tournament for its fourth straight appearance. The Beacons earned an at-large bid to the 2022 NIVC, their third showing in the tournament in the last five seasons. After a record-setting rookie campaign, freshman libero Emma Hickey was named a Second Team All-MVC and MVC All-Freshman Team honoree.
What's Back: Valpo returns plenty of experience from last year's squad, as 11 letterwinners are back this year, including four starters plus the libero. In all, 98% of the assists, 89.3% of the digs, 62.7% of the blocks and 60.9% of the kills from last season are back in 2023.
Who's New: Joining the 11 returnees on this year's team are six players looking to make an impact in their first season as Valpo. The sextet includes four true freshmen and two transfers - one fifth-year grad transfer and one sophomore.
Capturing Crowns: Last weekend's triumph in the Popcorn Classic added yet another crown to the program's trophy case. Valpo has now won 34 in-season tournament titles in head coach Carin Avery's time at the helm of the program. The team has won at least one tournament in 17 of her seasons, and multiple tournaments 11 times. Those tournament titles have come in 14 different states, including three in as many attempts in tournaments held in Tennessee - the 2014 Skyhawk Invitational, hosted by UT Martin; the 2015 Chattanooga Classic; and the 2021 Golden Eagle Invitational, hosted by Tennessee Tech.
Hosting Success: Last weekend marked the 12th time in Avery's tenure as head coach that Valpo has hosted an early-season tournament. Valpo has claimed the tournament title with a perfect record in eight of the previous 12 events. The program has never finished below .500 at a home tournament under Avery and has finished with one loss or fewer in 11 of the 12, and now sits with a 35-5 record in those 12 tournaments.
All-Tournament Team Honorees: Through two weekends of the 2023 season, Valpo has already had five players earn spots on All-Tournament Teams. Most recently, fifth-year outside Bella Ravotto was named MVP of the Popcorn Classic - the third All-Tournament accolade of her career and her second MVP award. Ravotto was joined on the All-Tournament Team by senior right side Olivia Blackketter (first career honor) and senior middle Mallory Januski (second career honor). Following the opening weekend of action at the EIU Volleyball Invitational, fifth-year middle Miranda Strongman earned her second career All-Tournament honor while redshirt sophomore right side Sam Warren picked up her first career All-Tournament accolade.
Ravotto's MVP Contributions: While her numbers for the weekend were strong (team-high 3.30 kills/set, .247, 4.30 digs/set), Bella Ravotto was Tournament MVP of the Popcorn Classic as much for her key contributions as her total stat lines. With the score tied at 18-18 in the second set against EMU, she came up with back-to-back kills and later served out the final four points of the set. Then, trailing 2-1 in the match in set four and with what had been an 11-5 lead cut to 11-10, Ravotto came up with three straight kills for the Beacons to start a stretch which saw Valpo out-score EMU the rest of the match, 29-10. In the win over Oakland, Ravotto came up with a big four-point service run in the second set to turn an 18-15 deficit into a 19-18 lead as Valpo eventually won the frame, 25-22.
Januski Cracks the Record Book: Mallory Januski posted a stellar stat line for the totality of the Popcorn Classic to earn All-Tournament honors, hitting ..434 with 2.40 kills/set and 10 blocks, but it was her performance against Eastern Michigan which stood out. Januski tallied 14 kills on .591 hitting in the win over the Eagles - the third-best hitting percentage in a five-set match in program history- and a team-best five blocks. She saved her best for the decisive set against EMU, as Valpo’s edge was just 4-3 before Januski tallied four kills over the next eight points, part of a 6-2 Beacon spurt which pushed the lead to 10-5 and kicked off a larger 11-3 run to close out the come-from-behind victory.
Blackketter Takes Down the Grizzlies: Olivia Blackketter was instrumental in Valpo’s win over Oakland to close out the Popcorn Classic, matching her high in the Beacon uniform with seven kills on .333 hitting while adding three blocks. The timing of her contributions was impeccable against the Golden Grizzlies, starting with a block and a kill on consecutive points to close out Valpo’s 5-0 run to finish out its comeback to take the second set. Then, trailing 16-13 in the third set, Blackketter came up with three kills as part of a 6-1 Valpo spurt which gave the Beacons the lead for good.
A Balanced Attack: Last year's Valpo team was notable for its balance on the attack, and this year's squad has been no different through the first seven matches. Bella Ravotto's 2.59 kills/set leads the Beacons, but ranks just 20th overall among Valley players. Notably, both of Valpo's three-set wins last weekend did not feature a single Beacon with double-digit kills - Ravotto led the way with nine kills against Western Illinois, while she shared team-high honors at eight kills with Elise Swistek versus Oakland - a match which saw six different Valpo players tally at least six kills.
Coming Up With Kills: Valpo enjoyed a double-figure edge in the kills department in all three wins last weekend, as it was +10 versus WIU, +22 against EMU and +11 against Oakland. The Beacons are now 5-0 this season when finishing with more kills than their opponent and have won 30 consecutive matches, dating back to Oct. 30, 2021, when they have bested their opposition in the kills department.
Another 20-Win Campaign: It's a milestone that has become routine for the program, yet still impressive in its totality - Valpo finished with 22 wins in 2022 and has now won 20 or more matches in 17 of Carin Avery's 21 seasons as head coach. Even more remarkably, one of the four seasons Valpo didn't reach 20 wins was the shortened spring 2021 campaign, when the program played just 20 matches total. The Beacons also secured their 19th winning season in Avery’s 21 seasons at the helm.
Top Half Finishes: In addition to the 20-win season, the Beacons also secured a top-half finish in the MVC standings as they finished in sixth place in the 12-team conference. Valpo has now finished in the top-half of the Valley standings in each of its six years in the conference, the only MVC program to accomplish that feat - Illinois State had finished top-half each of the last five years, but dropped out of the top-six in 2022. Going back further, Valpo has posted top-half conference finishes in 20 of Avery's 21 seasons - as well as qualifying for the conference tournament in each of her 21 seasons - and 29 of the last 30 years overall.
Digging Deep: Valpo continued its long tradition of strong back row play last fall, finishing 10th nationally and leading the MVC with 17.27 digs/set. The program has ranked among the top-30 nationally in digs/set in each of the last 12 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.
Hickey Sets New Standards: Emma Hickey made an immediate impact on Valpo’s backcourt and the record books in her rookie season. She set Valpo and MVC freshman record for digs in a season, finishing with 735 total digs, and led the Valley and ranked fourth nationally with 5.70 digs/set. No D-I freshman was within 200 digs of her season total, while it was tied for the second-most digs by a D-I freshman in the last 12 seasons. Her 735 digs are tied for fourth overall on Valpo’s single-season chart and rank sixth in MVC history as well.
Januski Runs the Middle: Senior middle Mallory Januski bided her time behind a pair of All-Conference middles in her first two seasons at Valpo, but given the opportunity in 2022 to run with a starting role, Januski took full advantage. She led Valpo and ranked fourth in the Valley with a .353 hitting percentage, a mark which smashed the program's single-season record. Januski also ranked seventh in the Valley with 0.98 blocks/set, tallying 122 total blocks — seventh-most by a Valpo player in the 25-point era. That total includes a monster 13-block performance at Murray State, a program record for the 25-point era.
One More Year: Three Valpo players are taking advantage of the additional season of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to play a fifth year of collegiate volleyball, but each of the three are at a different point in their Valpo journey. Bella Ravotto has spent all five years at the ARC, while Miranda Strongman is on her second season as a Beacon after playing three seasons at LIU. Most recently, Laura Ilizastigui joined the program as a graduate transfer for this season after spending two years apiece at Chicago State and the College of Southern Idaho.
