NOTEBOOK (PDF)
Conference play is now in full swing as everyone has wrapped up their home and home travel partner matches. Missouri State and Drake pace the conference race with unbeaten marks at 2-0. Bradley, Evansville, Illinois State, Indiana State, Loyola and Valpo each earned splits and sit 1-1, while Southern Illinois and UNI are 0-2.
The conference schedule will feature games on Sunday and Monday at the same site for the rest of the regular season.
The Valley Digs Deep
Seven of the 10 MVC programs currently rank Top 50 nationally in digs per set, including three in the top 25. Drake ranks 13th nationally with 18.61 digs per set, while Indiana State ranks 17th (18.43). Southern Illinois (23rd, 17.93), Illinois State (33rd, 17.33), Loyola (38th, 17.21), Valpo (45th, 16.75) and Bradley (49th, 16.50) round out the teams ranking in the Top 50 nationally.
Cookerly Climbing Digs Chart
Valpo senior Rylee Cookerly continues to climb The Valley’s all-time career digs list. Cookerly sits 9th on the list entering this week. The senior is the NCAA active leader in career digs and ranks second nationally among active players with a career average of 5.35 per set.
Individual Career Digs
2,778 Courtney Pence, Illinois State, 2015-18
2,656 Ellie Blankenship, UNI, 2007-10
2,482 Emily Butters, Missouri State, 2015-18
2,423 Alana Wittenburg, Drake, 2007-10
2,323 Kendyl Sorge, UNI, 2015-18
2,243 Yavianliz Rosado, Bradley, 2015-18
2,215 Katie Klages, Evansville, 2010-13
2,202 Kelly Broussard, Wichita State, 2005-08
2,151 Rylee Cookerly, Valparaiso, 2017-pres
AVCA Top-25
For the second-straight week, Illinois State is receiving votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll, which was announced by the organization on Feb. 1. This is the third time the Redbirds have been mentioned in the poll since fourth-year head coach Leah Johnson took the reins in 2017. Illinois State has made 15 appearances in the AVCA’s top 25 in program history – once in 2019, 12 times in 1984 and twice in 1983 – the first year the poll was published.
On the Brink of History
UNI head coach Bobbi Petersen is tied for the MVC lead for most all-time coaching wins with 509. With her first win of the season, Petersen will surpass former Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes on the all-time MVC wins chart and become the all-time career coaching wins leader in MVC history.
BU: New Kid on the Block
The tallest player in program history at 6-5, freshman Abby Johnson has made her presence felt at the net early on this season. Johnson, who is tied for fourth in The Valley at 1.33 blocks per set, collected six blocks to go with five kills in Monday’s three-set win against Illinois State as she helped the Braves tally 11.0 blocks in the victory. She had three solo blocks in Monday’s victory for the most solo blocks by a Brave since Erica Haslag had three at Indiana State on Sept. 16, 2016. Bradley has improved its blocks-per-set average each of the last three seasons and is currently tied for third in the MVC at 2.33 blocks per set this season.
DU: Historic Sweep
Drake earned a 3-1 win at UNI to record the team’s first win in Cedar Falls since 1983 and the team’s first regular-season sweep of the Panthers since 1982. Drake is 4-1 or better to start a season for the sixth time in the last seven years.
UE: 1-2 Punch
Through the first week of action, UE has been led by Alondra Vazquez and Melanie Feliciano on the offensive end. Vazquez ranks third in the MVC with 3.73 kills per set while Feliciano checks in with 3.27, putting her 9th in the league. They have led the team in kills in each of the opening four matches of the season. Feliciano has focused on her accuracy and sits in 8th place in the conference, hitting .234 through four matches.
ILS: Serving Up a Sweep
After falling in four sets on Friday night, the Redbirds responded by sweeping the Cincinnati Bearcats at Redbird Arena on Saturday afternoon. Illinois State used a career performance from freshman Kaitlyn Prondzinski, who tallied 12 kills on .455 hitting, while the Redbirds delivered nine service aces, led by Sarah Kushner (4).
INS: Valley Leaders
In the young spring 2021 season, the Sycamores find themselves atop the Valley in four categories currently. Offensively, ISU is first in the MVC in assists per set at 14.29 (4th nationally), hitting percentage at .230 (56th nationally), kills per set at 15.29 (5th nationally) and team attacks per set at 41.00 (5th nationally).
LUC: Impressive Frosh
Loyola’s 2-0 start prior to Monday’s loss at Valpo was its first since 2012. Freshman Emily Banitt has opened her career in impressive fashion, tallying three double-doubles in as many matches. The outside hitter is producing 2.64 kills and 3.21 digs per set this season. She had 12 kills and a season-best 21 digs in a win over Butler on January 29 then notched a season-best 13 kills and added 12 digs in a four-set loss at Valpo.
MSU: Fast Start
Missouri State is 6-1 overall for the first time since 2013 and just the sixth time in the last 31 seasons. The Bears are also 2-0 in Valley play for the first time since 2017, when the team completed an unbeaten run through both regular season and tournament play.
UNI: Follow the Leader
Emily Holterhaus led UNI in kills in all of the season’s five matches played so far. Holterhaus registered a career-high 16 terminations in back-to-back outings last week against Drake and #25 Marquette. Holterhaus ranks 5th in kills per sets and 4th in points per set in The Valley.
SIU: Digs Aplenty
The Salukis, who finished 15th in the nation in 2019 in digs per set (17.67/set), are once again ranked in the top-25 in the category. Southern currently ranks 23rd at 17.93 digs per set. Southern’s libero, Katy Kluge, set career-highs in both digs (34) and assists (8) in SIU’s five-set loss to Missouri State on Jan. 30. Kluge’s 34 digs were the most by a Saluki since 2012 and are tied for the most in a five-set match in school history. Overall, it is tied for the third-most in a match of any length in program history. Kluge currently leads The Valley, and ranks 19th nationally, in digs per set at 5.50/set.
VU: Reeling Off Victories
With two consecutive wins under their belts heading into next weekend, the Crusaders are looking for a third straight victory when they take the court at Missouri State. Early-season win streaks have been commonplace under head coach Carin Avery, as in 16 of her 18 seasons, Valpo has had a winning streak of at least three straight matches within the season’s first 10 matches.
This week's Missouri Valley Conference Players of the Week are Missouri State's Amelia Flynn, Valpo's Rylee Cookerly and Valpo's Victoria Bulmahn.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Amelia Flynn, Jr., OH, Missouri State
Amelia Flynn averaged 3.78 kills, 3.67 digs and 4.61 points per set while posting a double-double in each of Missouri State’s victories against Southern Illinois. Saturday in Carbondale, the junior had 15 kills, 19 digs, three aces and two blocks in five sets. Tuesday in Springfield, Flynn tallied a match-high 19 kills on .250 hitting, adding 13 digs and three more aces in a 3-1 win. She also fielded 43 of 44 SIU serves for a .977 reception percentage in the two matches and ran her double-double streak to six consecutive contests. The Bears are now 6-1 overall for the first time since 2013 and 2-0 in MVC play for the first time since 2017.
Other Notable Performances: Doga Topcicek (BU); Emily Plock (DU); Alondra Vazquez (UE); Sarah Kushner (ILS); Madeline Williams (INS); Sarah Murczek (LUC); Emily Holterhaus (UNI); Emma Baalman (SIU); Peyton McCarthy (VALPO)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Rylee Cookerly, Sr., L, Valparaiso
As she has done throughout her career, Cookerly led the way on the back line in Valpo’s two wins last week. Cookerly led all players in both victories, tallying 17 digs in Valpo’s sweep of Butler and 23 digs in the four-set win over Loyola. The Loyola match was especially impressive, as 10 of her 23 digs were converted into immediate kills - an extremely high percentage for a libero. Cookerly, who averaged 5.71 digs/set and received 33 serves without an error over the two matches, has now scored double figures in digs in 58 consecutive contests and has posted 20+ digs 50 times in her Valpo career.
Other Notable Performances: Hannah Thompson (BRAD); Kylee Macke (DU); Hannah Watkins (UE); Kendal Meier (ILS); Chloe Mason (INS); Taylor Venuto (LUC); Teagan Polcovich (MSU); Carly Spies (UNI); Katy Kluge (SIU)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK:
Victoria Bulmahn, Fr., S, Valparaiso
Bulmahn had a stellar start to her career at Valpo, as she set the Brown and Gold to two wins last week. After missing the season opener, Bulmahn stepped right in on Friday and dished out 30 assists in the sweep of Butler. Then, in her first career MVC match on Monday versus Loyola, Bulmahn tallied 50 assists over the four-set win and added 13 digs as well for her first career double-double. Bulmahn’s setting helped the offense to a .242 attack clip in the win over the Ramblers, as three different Valpo players reached double figures in kills, all hitting better than .300. For the week, Bulmahn averaged 11.43 assists/set and 2.86 digs/set.
Other Notable Performances: Abby Johnson (BRAD); Kaitlyn Prondzinski (ILS); Mallory Keller (INS); Emily Banitt (LUC); Teagan Polcovich (MSU); Tayler Alden (UNI); Imani Hartfield (SIU)