NOTEBOOK (PDF)
Clinched!
Missouri State and UNI have each secured a spot in the six-team MVC Volleyball Tournament which will be held at Redbird Arena on the campus of Illinois State November 23-25. Drake, Illinois State, Valparaiso and Indiana State currently occupy the final four spots in the tournament race with three weeks remaining during the regular season.
20 Win Club
Missouri State won its 20th match of the season Saturday at Indiana State, the 18th time in the last 19 seasons that the Bears have accumulated at least 20 victories. Including 2017, only Penn State and Colorado State have won at least 20 matches in each of the last 19 years, while Nebraska, Florida and Hawaii have a chance to do so by season’s end.
Drake recorded their 20th win of the season with a 3-0 win at Bradley. The milestone was the Bulldogs’ first 20-win season since 2010 and the sixth in program history since 1982. Drake’s 1995 owns the program record for wins with 25.
20/20/20
With Drake and Missouri State joining UNI with 20 or more wins this season, the MVC is the only Division I conference to have three teams with 20 or more victories this season. The Big Sky, Big South, Big Ten, Colonial, Conference USA, Ohio Valley and Southland each have two teams in the club.
First Time In A Long Time
Illinois State secured its first win over a nationally-ranked program in nearly 14 years when the Redbirds earned a five-set victory over No. 25 UNI Friday at Redbird Arena. The Top 25 win was Illinois State’s first since the Redbirds beat then-No. 8 UNI on Nov. 21, 2003, in a match that was also played in Redbird Arena and also went the full five sets.
League Leaders
Missouri State’s 12-0 league start matches six others who have started with 12 or more consecutive league wins in 2017. 12 NCAA teams are still unbeaten in their respective leagues (through Oct. 29).
NCAA Teams With Perfect League Marks
15-0 Alabama St.
13-0 High Point
12-0 Colorado St., Fairfield, Stanford, Missouri St., Wichita St.
11-0 Cal Poly, VCU, Western Kentucky
10-0 Kentucky
9-0 Texas
NCAA RPI Report
The latest NCAA RPI report for the 2017 season has been released (Oct. 30) and the Valley has two teams featured in the top-50. UNI leads the league at No. 48, while Missouri State sits No. 50 this week.
Elite Company
The Valley is one of four non-Power Five leagues to have two teams appearing in the top 50 of the NCAA RPI, joining the Big East, Big West and West Coast Conferences.
AVCA Top-25
UNI fell out of the Top 25 in the latest AVCA poll (Oct. 30) following a five-set loss at Illinois State Friday. Missouri State is receiving votes and sits 27th with 40 votes, while UNI sits 30th with 12 votes.
Exclusive Company
The Missouri Valley Conference has four players currently in the 1,000 kill/1,000 dig club. Currently in Division I, there are 27 members in the club with 10 conferences having multiple members. The MVC is the only conference with four members in the club with nine others having two members (American Athletic, Big South, MAC, Metro Atlantic, OVC, SEC, Southern, Southland and Sun Belt).
MVC players in 1,000 Kill/1,000 Dig Club:
Andrea Estrada, Southern Illinois
Kyla Inderski, Drake
Lily Johnson, Missouri State
Bri Weber, UNI
This week's Missouri Valley Conference Players of the Week are UNI's Piper Thomas, Illinois State's Courtney Pence and Evansville's Cassie Brooks.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Piper Thomas, Jr., MH, UNI
UNI junior Piper Thomas averaged 5.00 kills per set and hit .447 over this week’s set of matches for the Panthers. Thomas set a career-high with 24 kills (.385) in a five-set match at Illinois State on Friday. Thomas came back on Sunday and delivered a team-high 16 kills (.583) in a 3-0 sweep at Bradley. Thomas notched 40 kills against six attack errors in 76 total swings in the two league matches. Thomas is the MVC leader in hitting percentage (.355 - all matches; .418 in conference only matches).
Other Notable Performances: Erica Haslag (BRAD); Cathryn Cheek (DU); Mildrelis Rodriguez (UE); Morgan Gresham (LUC); Lynsey Wright (MSU); Patience Brown (SIU); Taylor Graboski (VALPO)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Courtney Pence, Jr., L, Illinois State
Illinois State’s Courtney Pence played a key role in helping the Redbirds to their first win over a Top 25 team in nearly 14 years on Friday, tallying a match-high 37 digs in a five-set win over No. 25 Northern Iowa. On Saturday, Pence registered 29 digs in a three-set match, with double-digit digs in the second and third sets, respectively. For the weekend, she averaged 8.25 digs per set, while adding seven assists and one service ace. Pence continues to lead the MVC and rank among the national leaders in both total digs (625) and digs per set (6.25).
Other Notable Performances: Yavianliz Rosado (BRAD); Kyla Inderski (DU); Alex Nunez (LUC); Aubrey Cheffey (MSU); Kendyl Sorge (UNI)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK:
Cassie Brooks, Fr., DS, Evansville
Evansville freshman Cassie Brooks was on fire this weekend as she posted an unbelievable 6.83 digs per set in leading the Purple Aces to a 3-0 win over Southern Illinois and a great effort against Missouri State on Friday. The first match of the weekend against MSU saw Brooks notch 21 digs against the undefeated Bears. She also had four assists in just three frames of work. Brooks was back at it against the Salukis as she tallied 20 more digs and six assists in another 3-set match.
Other Notable Performances: Natalie Fry (DU); Sydney Holt (ILS); Elle Van Grinsven (LUC); Maggie Nedoma (SIU); Brittany Anderson (VALPO)