Valparaiso (18-12, 10-7 MVC)
Wednesday, Nov. 15 - at UIC (19-11, 10-7 MVC) - 6 p.m.
Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: A lot is on the line for the Valpo volleyball team on Wednesday evening as the Beacons travel to UIC for their regular season finale. With a win, Valpo would finish in third place in the Valley regular season standings - matching its best finish since joining the MVC - while with a loss, the Beacons would be dependent on other results to learn whether they secured a first-round bye.
Previously: Valpo closed the 2023 home campaign last weekend at the ARC against the top two teams in the Valley, falling 3-1 to Drake on Friday evening and 3-1 to UNI on Saturday night.
Looking Ahead: The MVC Tournament begins Sunday, Nov. 19 at Missouri State. Should Valpo earn a first-round bye, its first tournament match would be Monday, Nov. 20.
Following the Beacons: Wednesday's match will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Links for the live video and stats are available via ValpoAthletics.com.
Head Coach Carin Avery: In her 22nd season as head coach at Valparaiso, Carin Avery is the all-time winningest head coach across all sports in the history of Valpo Athletics. She has won 489 matches (489-240, .671) at the helm of the program and has led Valpo to three league regular season and tournament titles. The program has made six postseason appearances under Avery, including three NCAA Tournament appearances, and advanced to the championship match of the 2021 NIVC. 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 544-264 (.673) record overall as a head coach.
Series History: Valpo owns a 31-28 overall record against the most-common opponent in program history and is a commanding 22-9 against the Flames under Coach Avery. But it is UIC which has earned victories in all four meetings since the Flames joined the Valley, including a 3-1 decision at the ARC earlier this season. Emma Hickey had a match-high 30 digs in that contest, in the process surpassing 1,000 career digs, while Elise Swistek tied for match-high honors with 14 kills.
Scouting the Opposition: UIC comes into Wednesday's regular season finale tied with the Beacons at 10-7 in MVC action and with a 19-11 overall record, most recently picking up a four-set win over Drake on Saturday. Becca Oldendorf leads all Valley players with a .441 hitting percentage on 2.16 kills/set, while Martina Delucchi paces the Flames attack with 3.80 kills/set. Defensively, Zahria Woodard ranks second in the MVC with 1.42 blocks/set.
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.
What's On the Line: There's plenty to play for on Wednesday as Valpo and UIC - two of the three teams currently in a three-tie for third place in the MVC Standings - face off, given that the top four teams in the Valley standings earn a first-round bye in the MVC Tournament. Valpo would secure the third seed with a victory, which would match the program's top regular season finish since joining the Valley. The Beacons could still earn a bye with a loss if Southern Illinois loses to Missouri State. If Valpo loses and SIU beats Missouri State, Valpo will be the fifht seed for the tournament.
Top of the Charts: With Valpo's win over Purdue Fort Wayne to close out nonconference action, head coach Carin Avery surpassed Valpo Athletics Hall of Fame member Emory Bauer for the most wins by a Valpo head coach across all sports in department history.
Bauer amassed his victories over three different sports, collecting 361 wins in 28 seasons as head coach of the baseball program, 109 victories in 22 years guiding the football team and eight wins in one season as men’s basketball head coach.
Avery’s record total, meanwhile, has obviously come all at the helm of the Valpo volleyball program. In her 22nd season as head coach, Avery’s teams have averaged better than 22 wins per year in her first 21 years guiding the program. Under Avery, Valpo has posted the six winningest seasons in program history, including a program-best 29 wins in 2004.
Winning Tradition Continues: Valpo secured a winning 2023 season when it defeated Bradley on the road two weekends ago, the 20th winning season in 22 years under head coach Carin Avery. The Beacons are also just two wins shy of the 20-win milestone, which would be the 18th 20-win campaign in Avery's 22 seasons.
Top Half Finishes: Last weekend's results around the conference guaranteed the Beacons no worse than a fifth-place finish in the final MVC regular season standings. Valpo has now finished in the top-half of the Valley standings in each of its seven years in the conference, the only MVC program to accomplish that feat. Going back further, Valpo has posted top-half conference finishes in 21 of Avery's 22 seasons - as well as qualifying for the conference tournament in each of her 22 seasons - and 30 of the last 31 years overall.
Road Warriors: Valpo's last road loss came way back on Sept. 30 at Drake. Since then, the Beacons have posted a perfect 6-0 record on the road, earning road wins at Indiana State, Evansville, Southern Illinois, Missouri State, Bradley and Illinois State. It is the program’s first time winning any six true road matches in a row since the 2014 season. It is the first time Valpo has won six consecutive conference road matches since the 2004 team went a perfect 7-0 away from home in Mid-Continent Conference play.
Another Milestone Hit: Junior outside Elise Swistek entered last weekend just 23 digs shy of 1,000 for her career and picked up 22 on Friday versus Drake, setting herself up to reach the milestone with her very first dig on Saturday against UNI. Remarkably, Swistek is the third Beacon this season to hit the 1,000-dig milestone, joining Emma Hickey and Victoria Bulmahn. Valpo now has 26 players all-time with 1,000 or more digs, four of whom are currently active - Swistek and Bella Ravotto are two of 13 outside hitters in program history to reach the mark, Hickey is one of six liberos and Bulmahn is one of seven setters.
Climbing the Digs Chart: Both fifth-year outside Bella Ravotto and sophomore libero Emma Hickey continue to climb the program's career digs chart. Ravotto, who moved into the top-10 in program history for career digs last month, enters the regular season finale with 1,624 career digs - just 29 shy of Sarah Dooms in seventh position. Meanwhile, Hickey - who became the fastest player in program history and MVC history to 1,000 career digs earlier this season, and is the only current D-I sophomore already over 1,000 digs - now owns 1,314 career digs, already up to 14th in program history.
All-Tournament Team Honorees: Six different Valpo players made nine All-Tournament Teams in the season's first four weekends:
Purdue Fort Wayne Invitational - Emma Hickey, Mallory Januski
Stacheville Challenge - Januski, Miranda Strongman
Popcorn Classic - Bella Ravotto (MVP), Olivia Blackketter, Januski
EIU Volleyball Invitational - Strongman, Sam Warren
Three Times the Fun: Parse the previous list and you'll see senior middle Mallory Januski picking up a trio of All-Tournament Team honors this season. It is the first time a Valpo player has earned spots on three All-Tournament teams in the same season since Allison Ketcham did so in 2018. But, one of Ketcham's honors came in the postseason at the MVC Tournament - Januski is the first Valpo player in the Carin Avery era to receive three All-Tournament Team spots from solely early-season, preconference tournaments.
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. Elise Swistek's 2.48 kills/set leads the Beacons, but ranks just 23rd overall among Valley players. Five regulars are averaging between 1.84 and 2.48 kills/set.
Capturing Crowns: The Beacons' 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.
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.
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.
