A 2011 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season that saw eight league teams battling for tournament positions into the final conference weekend is complete as the field for the 2011 State Farm MVC Volleyball Championship this weekend.  Play at this year's championship will begin Thursday, Nov. 24, at 5:00 p.m., in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa at the McLeod Center.

Seed, Team MVC Record
1. UNI (18-0)
2. Missouri State (15-3)
3. Wichita State (13-5)
4. Creighton (12-6)
5. Illinois State (9-9)
6. Indiana State (6-12)

No. 3 Wichita State will face No. 6 Indiana State in the tournament opener on Thursday, Nov. 24, at 5:00 p.m., followed by No. 4 Creighton versus No. 5 Illinois State at 7:30 p.m.  The game one winner between the Shockers and Sycamores will take on the No. 2 seed Missouri State on Friday evening at 5:00 p.m. in the first semifinal, while the Bluejays/Redbirds winner will face host and No. 1 seed UNI in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Semifinal winners will face off for the Missouri Valley Conference automatic berth into the NCAA Volleyball Championship on Saturday, Nov. 26, at 6:37 p.m.  Both opening round and semifinal matches are available on MVC Live - the league's video-streaming package, while the championship contest on Saturday will be televised live on the MVC TV Network at 6:37 p.m. 

The championship final will air live on the following cable outlets: Indiana – Bright House (Indianapolis – Channel 81), Comcast (Fort Wayne – Channel 9), Comcast (Indianapolis/Shelbyville – Channel 81), Insight (Evansville – Channel 2), Time Warner (Newburgh – Channel 23; Terre Haute – Channel 13) and WOW (Evansville – Channel 7); Iowa – Mediacom (statewide -- Channel 22); Kansas – Cox (statewide -- Channel 22 or 76) and Knology (formerly Sunflower -- Channel 172); Missouri – Charter (St. Louis – Channel 125), Comcast (Kansas City – Channel 261), Mediacom (Columbia, Jefferson City and Springfield – Channel 22) and Time Warner (Kansas City – Channel 5); Nebraska – Cox (Omaha – Channel 76).

The match will also be cleared live on FOX College Sports (56 million digital homes), ESPN3 (outside the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska), DirecTV (Channel 658), Dish Network (Channel 449) and AT&T U-Verse (Channel 693).  

The telecast will also be shown at 2 p.m. Central on November 27 on Comcast SportsNet Chicago (4.759 million homes).

This week's State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Players of the Week are UNI’s Krista DeGeest, Wichita State’s Sarah Waldorf and Missouri State’s Kaitlin Jaeger.

STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Krista DeGeest, Jr., MB, UNI
DeGeest tallied 14 kills, hit .500 and tallied 10 total blocks in leading UNI to a pair of wins over Evansville and Southern Illinois.  Against Evansville she posted eight kills and six blocks assists. In the win over SIU, DeGeest secured six kills on eight attacks along with one solo block and three block assists.

Other Notable Performances: Amy Angelos, BU; Natalie Hackbarth, CU; Shannon McGlaughlin, ILS; Kaitlin Jaeger, MSU; Laura Thole, SIU; Emily Adney, WSU.

STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Sarah Waldorf, Sr., L, Wichita State
Waldorf averaged a team-leading 6.00 digs per set in two Shocker matches over the weekend. Her team-leading 36 digs on the weekend moved her into third place in the Wichita State career record books. She now has 1,483 digs in her career. Waldorf posted a team-high 17 digs Friday at Illinois State, as well as two assists. On Saturday at Indiana State, she picked up a match-high 19 digs. On the season overall, she is now averaging 5.00 digs per set, and in conference play is averaging 5.08 digs per set.

Other Notable Performances: Rachelle Dejean, BU; Julianne Mandolfo, CU; Ashley Mason, MSU; Bailey Yeager, SIU.

STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK:
Kaitlin Jaeger, Fr., MB/OH, Missouri State
Jaeger led Missouri State with 3.50 kills per set and a .463 hitting percentage in victories at Indiana State and Illinois State. She committed just three attack errors in 54 attempts while converting 28 of those into kills. Friday at Indiana State, Jaeger scored 15 kills in only 22 attempts, hitting .636 in the three-setter. Saturday, she added 13 kills and hit .344 as the Bears rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Illinois State in five. Jaeger added three digs and two blocks against the Redbirds.

Other Notable Performances: Madison Kamp, BU; Leah McNary, CU; Sarah James, SIU.