As competition in the Missouri Valley Conference schedule continues to heat up, several team and individual milestones were achieved last weekend in league play.  On Friday night, Illinois State came back from an 0-2 deficit to defeat visiting Evansville, 3-2, marking the first time since 2006 that the Redbirds closed out the final three sets with a victory.  On Saturday, Southern Illinois swept Illinois State, 3-0, in Normal, Ill., snapping a 36-match regular-season losing streak to the Redbirds, dating back to 1990.  

Individually, Creighton's Jessica Houts recorded 10 block assists last weekend, giving her exactly 500 in her career, becoming just the fifth player in league history to top 500 career block assists.  Evansville sophomore Ellen Sawin moved into seventh all-time in UE single-season assists history, tallying 82 assists last weekend against Illinois State and Indiana State, for a season total of 1,020. 

Illinois State junior Mallory Leggett became the ninth player in Redbird history to reach the 1,000 dig mark.  After eclipsing 1,000 kills the weekend before, Leggett is now the fourth player in school history with 1,000 kills and digs and just the second player to accomplish both as a junior.  Southern Illinois senior Chandra Roberson entered the Saluki career record books in two categories last weekend.  After playing in six sets, she is tied for 10th all-time in career sets played with 404, while her 14 kills moved her to 10th all-time in career kills with 1,016.
 
Missouri State's Cara Hackmann reached three milestones Saturday that placed her in the top five in Bears' history for a match, a season and a career.  Her 37 digs against Drake tied for the third highest single-match total in school history, made her the fifth player to reach 500 digs in a single season and fourth player to get to 1,300 for a career at Missouri State.  Her teammate, sophomore Calli Norman, recorded the highest overall kill total at Missouri State in five years and the most in a four-set match in 10 years Saturday with 25 kills against Drake. 

With just three conference weekends remaining on the 2009 regular-season schedule, the top three teams in the standings - UNI, Missouri State and Wichita State - are separated by just three games and combine to play three matches against each other over the final three league weekends.

In this week's AVCA Coaches' Poll, UNI breaks into the top-25, as the Panthers are tied for 25th, tallying 82 total points.  UNI had previously been in the "others receiving votes" category for eight-straight weeks.   Last weekend, Northern Iowa tallied a non-conference win over South Dakota State, before picking up a league victory over Bradley, the Panthers 20th-straight win of the season.  This marks the first week the Valley has seen a league member in the top-25 since earlier this season (Sept. 28, 2009), when the Wichita State Shockers were No. 25.

On the conference calendar, Bradley and UNI will host Illinois State and Indiana State, Evansville and Southern Illinois will greet Missouri State and Wichita State, while Drake will travel to Creighton.

This week's State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week is Wichita State's Emily Stockman, the Defensive Player of the Week is Cara Hackmann of Missouri State and the Freshman of the Week is Southern Illinois' Rachael Brown.

State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week:
Emily Stockman, Wichita State,  OH, Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo. (Doherty/Winthrop)
Wichita State senior outside hitter Emily Stockman led the Shockers to a 2-0 weekend with wins over fourth-place Drake and fifth-place Creighton.  She averaged 4.14 kills, 0.14 aces, 4.14 digs, 0.43 blocks and 4.57 points per set while hitting .352 on the left side.   Against the Bulldogs, she had a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs while hitting .367.  She also added an assist, a service ace and two blocks. Against the Bluejays, she had a double-double with 16 kills and 16 digs while hitting .341.  She also added two assists and one block.  This week's accolade marks Stockman's fourth MVC Player of the Week award this season.

Other Notable Performances:  Jessica Houts, CU; Michelle Reidy, DU; Emily Wandersee, UE; Mallory Leggett, ILS; Stacy Qualizza, INS; Calli Norman, MSU; Bre Payton, UNI; Jennifer Berwanger, SIU.

State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week:
Cara Hackmann, Missouri State, L, Jr., Washington, Mo. (St. Francis Borgia)
Missouri State junior libero Cara Hackmann averaged 8.86 digs over seven sets in two Missouri State wins and matched the third highest single-match total in school history with 37 against Drake on Saturday. Hackmann's 37 digs are the most ever at MSU in a four-set match and tie for the fourth highest four-set total in the NCAA this season. The junior libero's big match Saturday came on the heels of a 25-dig performance in a sweep of Creighton Friday, giving her a 8.33 per set average against the Bluejays.  This week's awards marks Hackmann's fourth MVC Defensive Player of the Week honor this season.

Other Notable Performances:  Nayka Benitez, CU; Alana Wittenburg, DU; Julie Sylvester, UE; Kiya James, INS; Ellie Blankenship, UNI; Lauren Blumhorst, SIU; Melissa Granville, WSU.

State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week:
Rachael Brown, Southern Illinois, S, Fr., Brownsburg, Ind. (Brownsburg)
Saluki setter Rachael Brown averaged 12.83 assists, 1.33 digs, 1.17 kills and 0.50 blocks per set, hitting .583 with zero attack errors, in two wins over the weekend. Brown recorded 39 assists, four kills, three digs, a solo and block assist, hitting .571 in the match with zero attack errors in a sweep of Indiana State Friday. Saturday, she recorded 38 assists, five digs, three kills and a block assist in a sweep of Illinois State to help break a 36-match regular-season losing streak.  This week's honor marks Brown's fourth MVC Freshman of the Week accolade this season.

Other Notable Performances:  Megan Bober, CU; Emily Heffernen, DU; Morgan Dall, INS; Abby Padlock, MSU; Krista DeGeest, UNI.

MVC NEWS & NOTES:
Dig For Hire
The Missouri Valley Conference boasts seven teams in the nati on's top-80 in digs per set, including four in the top-30. UNI (16th, 17.36 dps), Evansville (18th, 17.21 dps), Illinois State (24th, 16.94 dps), Missouri State (26th, 16.83 dps), Wichita State (31st, 16.66 dps), Drake (46th, 16.30 dps) and Southern Illinois (77th, 15.64 dps), combine to make the Valley one of the toughest defensive league's in the country. Individually, UNI's Ellie Blankenship (6.04 dps) and Missouri State's Cara Hackmann (5.94 dps) rank second and fourth, respectively.

MVC Block Party
Six Valley squads rank in the nati on's top-70 in blocks per set, including two in the top-20. Creighton (3rd, 3.05 bps), Wichita State (16th, 2.76 bps), Southern Illinois (40th, 2.46 bps), Missouri State (53rd, 2.36 bps), UNI (58th, 2.33 bps) and Drake (66th, 2.30 bps) lead the way for the MVC. Individually, Creighton's Jessica Houts ranks ninth-best (1.44 bps), while her teammate Laurel Sanford (33rd, 1.26 bps) has the league's second-best blocking numbers.