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UNI, Illinois State, Bradley, Valparaiso and Missouri State have each secured a spot in the six-team MVC Volleyball Tournament which will be held at Missouri State November 22-24. Loyola currently occupies the final spot in the tournament race with a week remaining during the regular season. Drake is also alive in the race for a conference tourney spot.
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, Loyola controls its own destiny as it looks to secure its first berth to the Missouri Valley Conference Championship since 2016. In its first five years in The Valley, Loyola has earned a spot in the conference tournament just twice (2015, 2016).
Drake can earn the No. 6 seed with wins over Indiana State and Evansville and a Loyola loss to Missouri State.
The full MVC Volleyball Tournament bracket will be announced on Saturday night following the conclusion of regular season play.
Championship Up for Grabs
The regular season MVC title is still up for grabs heading into the final weekend of action. Illinois State can lock up at least a share of the MVC crown with a win over Bradley Friday. UNI can also earn a shared title with wins over Evansville and Indiana State. UNI would hold the tiebreaker for seeding at the MVC Tournament if both teams win their remaining contests. ISU’s last title was in 2014, while UNI’s was in 2011.
Third Place Braves
Bradley pulled out five-set road wins at Valparaiso and Loyola last weekend to lock up third place in the MVC regular season standings. The third-place finish is the best league showing for the Braves since 2001 (3rd) and Bradley is the first team in league history to finish among the top three in the conference standings a year removed from a last-place finish.
New Career Digs Queen
Illinois State senior Courtney Pence became the all-time MVC career digs leader with her fourth dig in Illinois State’s 3-0 sweep of Loyola Friday. Pence currently ranks sixth (2,696) all-time in NCAA Division I volleyball history in the career category. She needs just 57 digs to jump into fourth all-time, passing Valparaiso’s Taylor Root (2009-12). When she does so, she will become the highest-ranking player who played her entire career in the 25-point era.
Career Digs
1. 2,696 - Courtney Pence, Illinois State 2015-pres.
2. 2,656 - Ellie Blankenship, UNI 2007-10
3. 2,423 - Alana Wittenburg, Drake 2007-10
4. 2,417 - Emily Butters, Missouri State 2015-pres.
5. 2,215 - Katie Klages, Evansville 2010-13
6. 2,202 - Kelly Broussard, Wichita State 2005-08
2,202 - Kendyl Sorge, UNI 2015-pres.
Another Semifinal for UNI
UNI has secured the No. 1 or 2 seed for the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. By earning the No. 1 or 2 seed, UNI is guaranteed spot in the semifinals with a bye. As a result, this marks the 34th straight MVC Tournament semifinal appearance for the Panthers. UNI’s streak of playing each year in the MVC Tournament semifinals began in 1985.
NCAA RPI Report
The latest edition of the NCAA RPI report has been released and The Valley has three teams featured in the top-75. UNI leads the league at No. 16, while Illinois State (No. 30) and Valparaiso (No. 72) are also among the nation’s top-75. Four other teams rank in the Top 130 (Bradley, Missouri State, Drake and Loyola). As a conference, The Valley ranks eighth among 32 conferences.
AVCA Top-25
UNI continues to receive votes in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll this week. The Panthers are receiving 49 votes and sit 27th overall.
This week's Missouri Valley Conference Players of the Week are Bradley’s Erica Haslag, Illinois State’s Courtney Pence and Missouri State’s Amelia Flynn.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Erica Haslag, Sr., OH, Bradley
Haslag had a pair of 20-kill outings, averaging 4.80 kills per set while boasting a .293 attack percentage to help Bradley pull out back-to-back five-set road wins. She also averaged a team-best 4.95 points per set as the Braves locked up third in the MVC regular-season standings to mark the best finish in program history since a third-place showing in 2001. Haslag had 20 kills, two digs and a block in Friday’s five-set win at Valparaiso, tallying five of her match-high 20 kills in the deciding fifth set. She followed that up by matching her season high with 28 kills to help Bradley rally from two-sets-to-none deficit for a five-set win at Loyola. She hit .386 in the contest and also added two digs and a pair of blocks. After the Braves dropped the first two sets, Haslag notched 16 kills in the final three frames and hit .481 (16-3-27) in those sets to help Bradley to its fifth MVC road victory of the year. Haslag also became the 17th player in MVC history to reach 1,600 career kills in Saturday’s outing at Loyola as she reached 20 kills for the fifth time in the last six matches.
Other Notable Performances: Cathryn Cheek (DU); Rachel Tam (UE); Kaylee Martin (ILS); Cassie Kawa (INS); Morgan Gresham (LUC); Amelia Flynn (MSU); Piper Thomas (UNI); Rachel Maguire (SIU)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Courtney Pence, Sr., L, Illinois State
Courtney Pence continued to pace the Redbird defense this weekend in Illinois State’s pair of wins at Loyola Chicago and Valparaiso, helping hold Redbird opponents to a combined .118 hitting percentage. With her fourth dig against the Ramblers on Friday night, Pence surpassed UNI’s Ellie Blankenship’s (2007-10) career digs mark in the Valley record book, making the senior libero the MVC’s all-time career digs leader. She finished with 12 against the Ramblers, before tallying 31 against the Crusaders on Saturday night, to average 6.14 digs per set for the weekend. Pence’s guidance in the back row against Loyola Chicago helped the Redbirds hold the Ramblers to below .100 hitting (.097). Her 31 digs against Valparaiso marked the fifth time this season that the Springfield, Illinois, native has notched over 30 digs in a four-set match. After her 43-dig performance on the weekend, Pence now ranks sixth all-time in NCAA career dig history.
Other Notable Performances: Yavianliz Rosado (BRAD); Jade York (INS); Delilah Wolf (LUC); Emily Butters (MSU); Karlie Taylor (UNI); Keera Clarke (SIU)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK:
Amelia Flynn, Fr., OH, Missouri State
Amelia Flynn broke her own MSU freshman single-match record with 27 kills in Saturday’s win at Drake, and averaged 5.14 kills on .313 hitting, 2.29 digs, 0.71 blocks and 5.57 points per set in two matches. Flynn, who already shared the freshman kills record at 26 with Lily Johnson and Vanessa Wouters, needed just four sets at Drake to establish the new record, which marked the highest total in a four-set match for any player at MSU since 1998. She hit .328 against the Bulldogs and added 12 digs and four blocks, completing her 11th double-double of the season. Friday, Flynn hit .273 with a team-high nine kills at UNI.
Other Notable Performances: Hannah Thompson (BRAD); Caitlyn Smith (DU); Marissa Stockman (ILS); Lauren Caprini (LUC)