NOTEBOOK (PDF)
Still Perfect...
Bradley, Illinois State and UNI all remain unbeaten in MVC action after the second week of league play. The trio all hold a 4-0 record in MVC contests. After this coming weekend, only one team will have the opportunity to keep that status, as the Redbirds and the Braves are set to travel to Iowa to face UNI and Drake. The last time Illinois State opened its conference slate with a perfect 4-0 record was back in 2014, when the Redbirds won the league outright with a perfect 18-0 record in Valley play. UNI opened last MVC season 7-0, finishing second in the standings at 15-3.
Historic Start for Bradley
The Braves are 4-0 to start conference action for just the third time in program history (last in 2005) and have already surpassed last year’s Valley win total. In fact, BU’s 14 wins are the most since ending the 2005 campaign with a 16-17 mark. Bradley brings its longest win streak in over a decade (8) into Friday night’s match at Drake. The last time Bradley had an eight-match win streak was 2005 and the Braves have not had a win streak longer than eight since 2002 (11).
Valpo’s Best Start
This year’s squad became the first Valpo team to ever go 17-2 through its first 19 matches of the season with the win over Drake on Friday. Despite the Saturday setback against UNI, the team is still tied for the best record through 20 matches with the 2004 and 2014 teams. The 2014 team was 17-3 before taking its fourth loss in match number 21, while the 2004 squad made it to 20-3 before falling for the fourth time.
Most Wins in the Nation
Valpo enters the week tied with Stephen F. Austin for the most wins by a D-I team in the nation, sitting on 17 victories going into Friday night’s match. The Crusaders were the first team to reach the 17-win mark, doing so Friday night with the win over Drake.
NCAA RPI Report
The first edition of the NCAA RPI report for the 2018 season has been released and the Valley has three teams featured in the top-65. UNI leads the league at No. 20, while Valparaiso (No. 55) and Illinois State (No. 63) are also among the nation’s top-65. Four other teams rank in the Top 150 (Drake, Missouri State, Bradley and Loyola). As a conference, The Valley ranks eighth among 32 conferences.
Team RPI
UNI 20
Valparaiso 55
Illinois State 63
Drake 103
Missouri State 129
Bradley 131
Loyola 136
Indiana State 199
Evansville 200
Southern Illinois 229
Stokes Reaches Milestone
Friday’s victory against Southern Illinois marked the 500th in the career of Melissa Stokes, all at Missouri State. Stokes is the 34th active Division I coach with 500 or more wins, and now ranks third all-time among MVC coaches in total victories, trailing only UNI’s Iradge Ahrabi-Fard (503) and Missouri State’s Linda Dollar (758).
Senior CLASS Award Candidates
Bradley’s Erica Haslag and Illinois State’s Courtney Pence have been named candidates for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award. Haslag and Pence are among 30 NCAA Division I candidates in volleyball for the award which recognizes notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
Panthers Elite Offense
UNI leads the MVC in both assists per set and kills per set so far this season. The Panthers rank top 15 nationally in both categories, sitting 11th overall in assists per set (13.58) and 12th in kills per set (14.42). Rachel Koop leads The Valley in assists per set and sits 10th nationally (11.51), while Karlie Taylor leads the league in kills per set and points per set, ranking 12th (4.58) and 14th (5.01) nationally in each category.
Tough Defenses
Bradley and Valparaiso are ranked among the top 10 nationally in both digs per set and opponent hitting percentage. The Braves sit 5th in digs per set (18.63) and third in opponent hitting percentage (0.143), while Valpo sits seventh in both categories (18.31 & 0.145). Bradley and Valpo join Cleveland State as the only teams nationally to rank top 10 in both categories.
AVCA Top-25
UNI continues to receive votes in this week’s AVCA Top 25 poll. The Panthers are receiving six points in the poll and sit 32nd overall entering this week’s action.
Milestones Reached
Valpo’s Rylee Cookerly and Bradley’s Abby Ihrke both hit the 1,000-dig milestone for their respective careers over the weekend. Cookerly surpassed 1,000 career digs in the win over Drake Friday, while Ihrke joined the club against Evansville Saturday.
The Missouri Valley Conference now has nine active players with over 1,000 career digs.
Courtney Pence, Illinois State, 2,395
Emily Butters, Missouri State, 2,180
Kendyl Sorge, UNI, 1,963
Yavianliz Rosado, Bradley, 1,814
Allison Ketcham, Valparaiso, 1,669
Mildrelis Rodriguez, Evansville, 1,218
Katherine Carlson, Valparaiso, 1,183
Rylee Cookerly, Valparaiso, 1,044
Abby Ihrke, Bradley, 1,004
This week's Missouri Valley Conference Players of the Week are UNI's Piper Thomas, Bradley's Yavianliz Rosado, and Missouri State's Chloe Rear.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Piper Thomas, Sr., MH, UNI
The Panthers went 3-0 and Piper Thomas led the way for the Panthers in all three matches. She notched a .456 attack percentage for the week with 50 kills and just nine errors, averaging 5.0 kills per set. Against Indiana State, she had 13 kills with just three errors for a.400 attack percentage. Against Loyola, she notched 18 kills and a .483 attack percentage and against Valparaiso, she had a season-high 19 kills and just two errors for a .472 attack percentage. She also tallied a season-high six block assists in the Valpo match. In conference-only stats, she is tied for first in attach percentage at .478, first in kills at 5.08 per set, and tops the league in points at 5.46 per set.
Other Notable Performances: Hannah Thompson (BRAD); Grace Schofield (DU); Stef Jankiewicz (ILS); Quinn Spieker (LUC); Amelia Flynn (MSU); Maggie Nedoma (SIU); Lizzie Zaleski (VALPO)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Yavianliz Rosado, Sr., L, Bradley
Rosado averaged 7.43 digs per set in a pair of home victories as Bradley limited Indiana State and Evansville to a combined .163 hitting percentage to improve to 4-0 in MVC play and 14-2 overall. She posted a career-best 35 digs in a four-set victory over Indiana State Friday and also had a pair of assists against the Sycamores. The 35 digs tied for the fourth-best single match total in Bradley history and were the most by a Brave since Lauren Zerante had 36 digs in a five-set match at Northern Iowa on Nov. 22, 2013. She capped the weekend with 17 digs and three assists in a sweep of Evansville Saturday, helping BU limit the Aces to a .143 hitting percentage. In addition to helping the Braves to just the third 4-0 start to MVC play in school history, Rosado has helped Bradley to its longest win streak (8) since 2005 and the team’s 14 wins are the most since that same 2005 campaign (16).
Other Notable Performances: Kylee Macke (DU); Courtney Pence (ILS); Heather Kocken (LUC); Aubrey Cheffey (MSU); Kendyl Sorge (UNI); Emma Baalman (SIU); Rylee Cookerly (VALPO)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Chloe Rear, Fr., S, Missouri State
Missouri State freshman Chloe Rear handed out assists at an elite level last week, averaging 13.83 per set while guiding the Bears to a .231 hitting percentage. Rear’s assist average was a full assist per set ahead of this year’s NCAA leader, and her 51 assists on Friday against Southern Illinois represented the most for a Bear in a three-set match in the 25-point scoring era (since 2008). Rear added 10 digs against SIU for the double-double, and MSU hit .355 in the match. Monday at Loyola, the rookie had 32 assists, five digs and a block.
Other Notable Performances: Hannah Thompson (BRAD); Caitlyn Smith (DU); Carley Nicholson (ILS); Lauren Caprini (LUC); Inga Rotto (UNI)