Valparaiso (21-8, 9-8 MVC)
Wednesday, Nov. 16 - 6 p.m. - UIC (20-9, 12-5 MVC)
Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: Already in the MVC Tournament field, the Valpo volleyball team closes out the regular season on Wednesday evening when it hosts UIC at the ARC.
Previously: Valpo split last weekend's action at the ARC, rallying for a five-set win over Bradley on Friday night before falling in four sets to Illinois State on Senior Night Saturday evening. Emma Hickey came up one shy of Valpo's single-match record for digs with an MVC-season high 42 in the win over the Braves.
Looking Ahead: The MVC Tournament opens up on Sunday afternoon with first-round action from Evansville.
Following the Beacons: Wednesday night's match will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and have live stats available via ValpoAthletics.com.
Head Coach Carin Avery: In her 21st season as head coach at Valparaiso, Carin Avery has won 470 matches (470-225, .676) 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 525-249 (.678) record overall as a head coach.
Series History: The most common opponent in program history, Valpo and UIC are conference mates for the fourth different conference, as they previously matched up as North Star Conference, Mid-Continent Conference and Horizon League rivals. Valpo holds a 31-25 advantage in the all-time series and is 22-6 against the Flames under Coach Avery, but earlier this year, UIC earned a three-set sweep in Chicago as the Beacons hit just -.010 for the match.
Scouting the Opposition: UIC enters the regular season finale at 20-9 overall and 12-5 in MVC play, having already secured the third seed for the conference tournament. As a team, the Flames lead the Valley in hitting percentage (.270) and kills (14.53/set). Individually, UIC has two of the top four in both hitting percentage and service aces, while Martina Delucchi ranks fourth in the MVC in kills/set (4.07).
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.
Another 20-Win Campaign: With their win over Belmont last Friday, the Beacons reached the 20-win mark this season. It's a milestone that has become routine for the program, yet still impressive in its totality as Valpo 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 have also clinched 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 with Friday's win over Bradley. 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 this season. Going back further, Valpo has posted top-half conference finishes in 20 of Avery's 21 seasons and 29 of the last 30 years overall.
A Look at the Standings: Valpo is locked into either the five or the six seed for next week's MVC Tournament at Evansville. Currently sitting in sixth place, Valpo can move up to the five seed with a win over UIC and a Southern Illinois loss to Missouri State. If the Beacons are the sixth seed for the tournament, they will face seventh-seeded Murray State in first-round action on Sunday, while if they move up to the fifth seed, they will face the eighth seed, which would be either Missouri State or Bradley based on Wednesday's other results.
Hickey Sets New Mark: Freshman libero Emma Hickey has racked up plenty of digs over the course of her rookie season, but took it to another level in Friday's win over Bradley, tallying 42 digs - one shy of Valpo's overall single-match record of 43, set by Rylee Cookerly. Hickey became just the third player in program history with 40+ digs in a match, joining Cookerly and Karen Kulick, and set the program record for digs in a five-set match across all eras. It is the highest dig total by an MVC player in the last two seasons.
Big Matches on the Attack: Valpo got a pair of standout performances on the attack in last weekend's pair of matches. Friday night against Bradley, it was Maddy Boyer stepping it up from the right side with a career-high 20 kills, easily out-pacing her previous career best of 16. Then, on Saturday versus Illinois State, Gretchen Kuckkan came off the bench to hit from the left pin and totaled 18 kills on .333 hitting, the second-best effort of her career in the kills department.
Januski Continues Rejecting: Junior middle Mallory Januski has led all players in blocks in each of Valpo's last four matches and registered at least five blocks in all four contests, highlighted by her 13-block performance at Murray State to nearly double her previous career high. Januski became just the second player in program history with at least 13 blocks in a match, joining Liz Mikos, who last did so over 19 years ago. The junior now holds Valpo's single-match record in the 25-point era, while her 13 rejections also are the most by an MVC player since October 2015. She followed up on Friday with eight blocks in the win over Bradley, a mark which would have been her career high had it not been for the Murray State match. Januski is now averaging an even one block per set this season, good for sixth in the Valley.
Consistency From Hickey: A big part of Valpo's strength in the back row has been its run of standout liberos, and Hickey has slotted right into that role this season and maintained the prolificacy. Hickey continued to rack up the digs last weekend, following her 43-dig performance against Bradley with a team-high 24 versus Illinois State. Hickey has registered 20 or more digs in 23 of Valpo's 29 matches. She ranks fourth nationally in digs/set, averaging 5.78 digs/set ‑ the only freshman among the top-30 in the nation - and is third nationally with 671 total digs. Hickey is only 15 digs away from Rylee Cookerly's freshman year total of 686, a mark which stands as both Valpo's and the MVC's freshman record and 10th-most in a single season in MVC history.
Record Book Watch: Hickey's appearance on Valpo's single-season digs chart - where she currently ranks ninth and is 15 digs away from the top-five - is one of many among this year's squad. Mallory Januski is on pace to easily best the program's single-season hitting percentage record, as her .357 clip would best the overall record of .334 (Nicole Schulz, 2006) and far surpass the 25-point era record of .307 (Kelsey Victor, 2014). With 13 blocks last weekend, Januski has 111 rejections on the season - tied for ninth-most in a single season in the 25-point era. Meanwhile, fellow middle Miranda Strongman will earn a spot on the single-season hitting percentage chart as well, as she is hitting .302 on the campaign. Also, with a team-best 30 service aces, Victoria Bulmahn is tied for ninth-most in a season in the 25-point era.
Reaching Milestones: Junior setter Victoria Bulmahn tallied her 2,000th assist two weekends ago at Belmont, making her just the 11th player in program history to register at least 2,000 helpers. It marked the second major statistical milestone reached by a Beacon player this season, as earlier this year, Bella Ravotto became the 23rd player in program history to record at least 1,000 career digs. With 1,256 digs entering Wednesday's match, Ravotto currently ranks 18th in program history in that department and is just 15 digs away from the top-15.
Players of the Week: Not surprisingly, Mallory Januski was tabbed the MVC Defensive Player of the Week for her record-setting performance at Murray State two weekends ago, her second weekly award of the season. Januski was named Player of the Week earlier this year after her MVP weekend at the Roadrunner Classic, making her the only MVC player to earn both PoW and DPoW honors this season. Emma 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, while Bella Ravotto was named Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 12. In all, Valpo players have earned six conference weekly accolades this season, and 27 in all since joining the MVC prior to the 2017 season.
Standout Performances: A number of standout efforts this year have cracked Valpo's single-match records, most recently Hickey's dig total against Bradley and Januski's blocking performance at Murray State. Led by Januski, Valpo posted 17 team blocks at Murray State, tied for fourth-most in a five-set match in the 25-point era.
Miranda Strongman hit .588 in Valpo's win at SIU Oct. 22 - the fifth-best hitting percentage in a four-set match in the 25-point era.
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.
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 17.61 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 30th place in the Valley to find the Beacons' top producer of kills per set so far this season - Bella Ravotto, who's averaging 2.27 kills/set. Seven different players are averaging between 1.83 and 2.27 kills/set. The balance has been prevalent within MVC play as well, as seven different players are averaging at least 1.65 kills/set. In fact, Cooper's team-best average of 2.12 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.
