Volleyball

MVC Volleyball Weekly Notebook (Oct. 20)

ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Valley Conference announced its volleyball weekly awards on Monday. UIC's Ayat Amin has been tabbed the MVC Player of the Week and Southern Illinois' Jillian Shaneyfelt has been named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week. UNI's Maryn Bixby is repeating as the league's Freshman of the Week.

Conference News & Notes
  • With its sweep of Evansville on Saturday, UNI has now won 50-consecutive matches against Missouri Valley Conference opponents in the regular season and postseason, including 44-straight against MVC foes in the regular season. The Panthers’ 11-match win streak in 2025 is the tied for the third longest in Division I.
  • In Monday morning’s RPI report, the Panthers remained at No. 39.
  • With its sixth-straight win, Valparaiso holds steady at No. 2 in the league standings with a 7-1 ledger. UIC and Drake are tied at 5-3, while Belmont and Southern Illinois are 4-4 in the MVC standings.
  • The Beacons rank inside the Top 10 nationally in team assists (1,075), digs (1,389) and kills (1,160). Southern Illinois follows closely behind in all three categories, also ranking inside the Top 10. 
  • UNI is holding its opponents to a .146 hitting percentage - the seventh-lowest mark in Division I - while averaging the second-most kills per set (14.56) in the country.
  • Drake picked up a pair of wins over the weekend, extending its win streak to five matches. During that stretch, Macy Daufeldt and Bliss Beck have been hitting over .300, while the Bulldogs have averaged 14.67 kills per set as a team.
  • Belmont continues to lead the league, while ranking eighth nationally, with 153 service aces. Brooke Gilleland’s 38 aces is the 11th most in Division I this season.
  • Bradley’s Maria Drapp has recorded a league-leading 737 assists this season - the 13th most in the country. 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ayat Amin, UIC, Sr., Outside Hitter - Cairo, Egypt (Al Waha International School)
UIC’s Ayat Amin led the Flames with 38 total kills, averaging a team-best 3.80 kills per set with a .400 hitting percentage as the Flames went 2-0. Amin registered 16 kills in a five-set win over Murray State, before returning to the court the next night and collecting a career-high 22 kills against Belmont. She added 10 digs against the Bruins to finish with a double-double. She also finished the weekend with 10 blocks.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jillian Shaneyfelt, Southern Illinois, Jr., DS/Libero - Pinckneyville, Ill. (Tennessee Tech)
Southern Illinois’ Jillian Shaneyfelt had the best defensive performance of her career as the Salukis went 2-0 in MVC play, and 2-1 overall, last week. In Friday’s five-set win over Bradley, Shaneyfelt tallied a career-high 28 digs en route to SIU’s reverse sweep of the Braves. She added 17 more digs in the sweep of the Redbirds, and finished with 61 digs on the week to average 5.08 digs per set. 

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Maryn Bixby, Northern Iowa, R-Fr., Middle Blocker - Dike, Iowa (Dike-New Hartford HS)
Maryn Bixby led UNI with eight total blocks after the Panthers swept Indiana State and Evansville to extend their win streak to 11 matches. Bixby tallied a career-high 11 kills against the Purple Aces on .381 hitting, including converting five of her first five attack attempts of the match. She averaged 1.33 blocks per set last week, and she leads the Panthers with 64 total blocks on the year.