NOTEBOOK (PDF)
With just two conference weekends remaining, four of the six teams set to participate in the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Championship have already been locked up, while the final two spots and seeding is still up for grabs during the final two weeks of the regular season.
Missouri State (14-0 MVC), UNI (13-2 MVC), Drake (12-3 MVC) and Illinois State (10-5 MVC) have already punched their tickets to the MVC Volleyball Championship, while Valparaiso (6-8 MVC) and Indiana State (5-9 MVC) currently occupy the final two spots.
Three Over 22
Drake, Missouri State and UNI all sit with 22 or more wins this season, the MVC is the only Division I conference to have three teams with 22 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.
Bears Keep On Winning
Missouri State pushed its win streak to 15 matches on Saturday, now the seventh-longest in school history and third-best under Melissa Stokes. The school record streak of 30 matches was set in 1975, while MSU also had a separate streak of 22 wins 1975, 18-match streaks in 1975 and 2003, and won 17 consecutive matches in 1974 and 2016.
Record Season for Bulldogs
Drake recorded its 22nd and 23rd wins of the season over the weekend to move into a tie for third for the most wins in program history since 1982. Drake’s 1995 and 1996 teams won 25 and 24 games, respectively. Additionally, Drake’s 12 MVC wins to date are the fourth-most MVC wins in program history and second most in an 18-game MVC schedule. Drake’s 1995 team went 17-3 in the MVC, 1994 went 14-6 and the 1996 was 16-2. Drake’s 40 wins in the past two seasons make the current two-year period the fourth most successful two-year span in program history.
League Leaders
Missouri State’s 14-0 league start matches six others who have started with 14 or more consecutive league wins in 2017. 11 NCAA teams are still unbeaten in their respective leagues (through Nov. 5).
NCAA Teams With Perfect League Marks
17-0 Alabama St.
15-0 Fairfield, High Point
14-0 Colorado St., Stanford, Missouri St., Wichita St.
13-0 VCU, Western Kentucky
12-0 Cal Poly
11-0 Texas
1,000 Kills for Thomas
UNI junior middle hitter Piper Thomas became the 27th Panther to surpass 1,000 career kills. Thomas has tallied 1,008 career kills. She leads in the Panthers in kills (425) and hitting percentage (.356).
1,000 Kills for Barrow
Abby Barrow recorded her 1,000th career kill in the third set of Monday night’s match against Loyola. She is just the 15th Saluki to record 1,000 career kills, and is one of 10 in the MVC to have reached the milestone.
4,000 Assists for Hook
UNI senior setter Heather Hook became only the sixth UNI Panther to reach 4,000 career assists. Hook also became the 23rd MVC player with 4,000 or more assists. Hook ranks No. 2 in the nation in total assists (1,256) this season. Hook has tallied 4,014 career assists.
Moser Enters Dig Club
Loyola’s Maddy Moser recorded the 1,000th dig of her collegiate career in Loyola’s four-set victory at Southern Illinois on October 30. Moser is the first Rambler to reach that milestone since Stephanie Kinane in 2013. Moser enters this week’s action with 1,029 digs.
NCAA RPI Report
The latest NCAA RPI report for the 2017 season has been released (Nov. 6) and the Valley has three teams featured in the top-100. UNI leads the league at No. 46, while Missouri State sits No. 51 and Illinois State 96 this week.
AVCA Top-25
Missouri State and UNI continue to receive votes in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll (Nov. 6). The Bears sit 27th with 36 votes, while the Panthers sit 31st with five votes.
This week's Missouri Valley Conference Players of the Week are Missouri State's Lily Johnson, Illinois State's Courtney Pence, and Drake's Emily Plock.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Lily Johnson, Sr., OH, Missouri State
Missouri State senior Lily Johnson averaged 5.29 kills, 5.57 digs and 5.71 points per set in two MSU wins. Monday against Valparaiso, the senior tallied 21 kills and 22 digs for her fourth 20/20 match of the year, the most ever in a season at Missouri State. She added two aces and two blocks against the Crusaders. Saturday, Johnson piled up 16 kills and 17 digs in three sets, hitting .271 as the Bears swept Southern Illinois at home.
Other Notable Performances: Kyla Inderski (DU); Jaelyn Keene (ILS); Elle Van Grinsven (LUC); Heather Hook (UNI); Abby Barrow (SIU); Peyton McCarthy (VALPO)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Courtney Pence, Jr., L, Illinois State
Illinois State’s Pence turned in a pair of strong outings over the weekend to lead Illinois State to a pair of Missouri Valley Conference wins. The Redbirds’ junior libero averaged 7.50 digs per set, while adding seven assists and five aces, including four in a win at Loyola Chicago Saturday night, which matched her career high. Pence continues to rank among the national leaders and leads the MVC in total digs (670) and digs per set (6.32). This is Pence’s record-breaking 10th all-time MVC Defensive Player of the Week honor.
Other Notable Performances: Kyla Inderski (DU); Maddy Moser (LUC); Emily Butters (MSU); Andrea Estrada (SIU); Rylee Cookerly (VALPO)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK:
Emily Plock, Fr., OH, Drake
Drake freshman Emily Plock tied for the team lead with 27 kills in a pair of MVC wins to average 3.86 kills per set while hitting a staggering .362 in the two matches. Plock also added a pair of blocks at the net. She opened her weekend with 12 kills on 25 attempts against Indiana State and followed that with a team-high 15 kills on 33 attempts in just three sets against Evansville. Earlier in the season, she recorded a career-high 19 kills at Evansville. Plock has now hit .300 or better in five MVC matches this season.
Other Notable Performances: Stef Jankiewicz (ILS); Elle Van Grinsven (LUC); Emelie Orlando (MSU); Peyton McCarthy (VALPO)