The two-time reigning Missouri Valley Conference Libero of the Year, Rylee Cookerly (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) represented the Valpo volleyball program on the preseason All-MVC Team released by the conference Wednesday morning. The Beacons were picked to finish in seventh place in the conference this year in preseason polling of the conference’s head coaches.

Cookerly enjoyed another stellar season in the spring 2021 campaign, earning MVC Libero of the Year honors for a second straight year as she totaled 422 total digs. Her average of 5.78 digs/set was good for 10th nationally and is third in a single season in program history. Cookerly finished in double figures in digs in each of her 18 matches, including 20+ digs 12 times and 30 or more on four occasions — highlighted by a season-high 40 digs at #13 Notre Dame to match Valpo’s record for digs in a five-set match.

Back for a fifth season, Cookerly’s already lofty career numbers are poised to take another big jump forward this season. She owns 2,514 career digs, over 300 more than any other active player in the country. Cookerly enters this fall second in Valpo history and third in MVC history in career digs — less than 300 digs from both records — and is just outside the NCAA’s top-15 all-time in the category as well. She is less than 300 digs from second place in NCAA history in the category and sits 662 away from the all-time record of 3,176 digs.

Valpo was picked to finish in seventh place in the preseason poll, totaling 40 points. Illinois State topped the poll with 79 points and three first-place votes, narrowly edging out Drake, which tallied 77 points, including three first-place votes. Valpo has outperformed its ranking in the preseason poll in each of its first four seasons in the MVC and is one of two programs (Illinois State) to post top-half finishes in the MVC standings in each of the last four seasons.

The Beacons return 10 letterwinners, including four starters and the libero, from the spring 2021 campaign in which they posted an 11-9 record and finished in fifth place in the MVC. In all, the returnees accounted for 75% of the team’s kills, 90% of aces, 82% of digs and 86% of blocks last season.