NOTEBOOK (PDF)
Missouri State, UNI, Drake and Illinois State 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. Valparaiso, Indiana State and Southern Illinois all remain alive for one of the final two spots in the tournament race heading into the final weekend. Valpo and Indiana State can each secure a spot with a single win this weekend, while Southern Illinois can get in with a pair of wins along with a pair of losses by Valpo or Indiana State. The Salukis hold the tiebreaker against the Crusaders and Sycamores.
The full MVC Volleyball Tournament bracket will be announced on Saturday night following the conclusion of regular season play.
MVC Champs
Missouri State secured the program’s fifth MVC regular season title with Saturday’s win against UNI, and claimed the outright championship Sunday versus Drake. The Bears also won the MVC in 1992, 1993, 2003 and 2016, and pulled off the regular season/tournament double in 1993. Missouri State’s 16-0 MVC start is the best in school history, and the school-record for league wins is 17, set by the 2003 squad.
AVCA Top-25
Missouri State made its first appearance in the Top 25 this season in the latest AVCA poll (Nov. 13). The Bears moved into the 25th spot this week. This is the fourth time the Bears have been in the Top 25 with the last appearance coming on Dec. 1, 2003.
Best MVC Records
Since the start of the Missouri Valley Conference in the 1992 season, 10 league team has gone through MVC play unscathed. UNI has accomplished a perfect MVC season seven times, Wichita State twice and Illinois State once. On eight of the 10 occasions, that team went on to win the MVC Tournament.
Rec. Team Year MVC Tourney
20-0 UNI 1995 Champs
18-0 UNI 1998 Champs
18-0 UNI 1999 Champs
18-0 UNI 2000 Champs
18-0 Wichita State 2005 Runner Up
18-0 Wichita State 2008 Semis
18-0 UNI 2009 Champs
18-0 UNI 2010 Champs
18-0 UNI 2011 Champs
18-0 Illinois State 2014 Champs
UNI Locks Up Tourney Bye
UNI secured the No. 2 seed for the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with a 3-0 win over Southern Illinois on Sunday. By earning the No. 2 seed, UNI is guaranteed spot in the semifinals with a bye. As a result, this marks the 33rd straight MVC Tournament semifinal appearance for the Panthers. UNI’s streak of playing each year in the MVC Tournament semifinals began in 1985.
Among the Leaders
UNI currently ranks No. 1 in the nation in kills/set (15.21), No. 2 in total assists (1,613) and total kills (1,734) and third nationally in team digs (2,218).
Senior CLASS Award Finalists
Illinois State’s Jaelyn Keene and Missouri State’s Lily Johnson have been named finalists for the 2017 Senior CLASS Award. Keene and Johnson are among 10 NCAA Division I candidates in volleyball for the award which recognizes notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
Three Over 23
Drake, Missouri State and UNI all sit with 23or more wins this season, the MVC joins the OVC as the the only Division I conferences to have three teams with 23 or more victories this season. The Big Sky, Big South, Big Ten, Colonial, Conference USA, and Southland each have two teams in the club.
League Leaders
Missouri State’s 16-0 league record matches five others who have started with 16 or more consecutive league wins in 2017. Eight NCAA teams are still unbeaten in their respective leagues (through Nov. 12).
NCAA Teams With Perfect League Marks
18-0 Alabama A&M, Fairfield
16-0 High Point, Missouri St., Wichita St.
14-0 Cal Poly, VCU
13-0 Texas
Road Dominance
Missouri State continues to hold the longest road win streak in the NCAA, sitting at 20-straight. The Bears close the regular season on the road against Valparaiso and Loyola this weekend.
NCAA RPI Report
The latest NCAA RPI report for the 2017 season has been released (Nov. 13) and the Valley has three teams featured in the top-100. Missouri State leads the league at No. 41, while UNI sits No. 50 and Illinois State 96 this week.
Rosado Breaks Single Season Digs Mark
Bradley junior Yavianliz Rosado had a team-best 18 digs Saturday against I-74 rival Illinois State as she broke Bradley’s season digs record on the final point of the contest. Rosado’s 607 digs in 2017 broke the Bradley season digs record of 606 set in 1985 by Stacey Besjak and her total currently ranks 26th among Missouri Valley Conference season marks. She is the first player in Missouri Valley Conference history to collect 600 digs and 150 or more assists in a season.
Tough To Kill
Currently, the MVC has the Top 5 teams nationally in digs per set, including Valparaiso leading the nation with 20.08 per set. The last MVC team to average over 20 digs per set for a season was Illinois State in 2007 (21.19).
Digs per Set
1. Valparaiso 20.08
2. UNI 19.46
3. Illinois State 19.28
4. Missouri State 19.23
5. Drake 19.09
This week's Missouri Valley Conference Players of the Week are Missouri State's Lily Johnson, Missouri State's Emily Butters, and Illinois State's Stef Jankiewicz.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Lily Johnson, Sr., OH, Missouri State
Missouri State senior Lily Johnson averaged 5.67 kills on .326 hitting, 3.67 digs and 6.33 points per set in a pair of Missouri State sweeps. She added three aces and two blocks in helping the Bears to their second consecutive MVC title. Saturday against UNI, Johnson posted a double-double with 14 kills and 13 digs, hitting .289 with two blocks and an ace. Sunday, the senior celebrated her final home match by hitting .360 with 20 kills, nine digs and a pair of aces against Drake.
Other Notable Performances: Erica Haslag (BRAD); Cathryn Cheek (DU); Jaelyn Keene (ILS); Laura Gross (INS); Gabi Maciagowski (LUC); Karlie Taylor (UNI); Kolby Meeks (SIU); Sydney Bronner (VALPO)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Emily Butters, Jr., L, Missouri State State
Missouri State’s Emily Butters averaged 7.50 digs per set in two MSU wins, tallying 10 assists and three aces in the two matches while helping the Bears hold the opposition to .175 hitting. Saturday, Butters dug 24 balls in three sets, nearing a double-double with eight assists and adding two aces against UNI. Sunday, the junior had 21 more digs and another ace to help MSU sweep Drake to earn an outright MVC championship.
Other Notable Performances: Yavianliz Rosado (BRAD); Kyla Inderski (DU); Courtney Pence (ILS); Rachel Griffin (INS); Maddy Moser (LUC); Kendyl Sorge (UNI); Patience Brown (SIU); Rylee Cookerly (VALPO)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK:
Stef Jankiewicz, Fr., S, Illinois State
Illinois State freshman Stef Jankiewicz turned in a strong performance in ISU’s only match over the past week, dishing out 57 assists and collecting 15 digs in the Redbirds’ 3-1 win at Bradley on Saturday. The double-double was Jankiewicz’s 15th of the season, and fifth over her past six matches, and the 57 assists marked a career high in four-set matches. Jankiewicz currently ranks second in The Valley, and among the national freshman leaders, in both total assists (1,191) and assists per set (10.83).
Other Notable Performances: Gillian Gergen (DU); Elle Van Grinsven (LUC); Rylee Cookerly (VALPO)