Player of the Week: Lily Dykstra, Northern Iowa
Defensive Player of the Week: Savannah Gogel, Evansville
Libero of the Week: Jillian Shaneyfelt, Southern Illinois
Conference News & Notes
- At the conclusion of non-conference action, five of the league’s 11 programs ended the slate at or above .500. Illinois State, Valparaiso, Indiana State, Northern Iowa and Evansville each ended non-conference action with a win.
- Valley play starts Tuesday evening as UNI travels to face Drake. The Panthers, who were picked to finish first in the annual preseason poll, are an impressive 69-1 in league play over the last four seasons. UNI’s last loss in MVC action came to the Bulldogs in the 2022 regular-season finale.
- Illinois State swept Marist and Oakland to end non-conference play with a league-best 9-2 ledger. The 9-2 start to the season marks the best for the Redbirds since 2004.
- Valparaiso swept the WNY Invitational, capped with a four-set win at Canisius on Saturday. This marks the second-straight season and the fourth time in the last six years the Beacons have won at least two tournament titles in a season.
- Indiana State clinched its first undefeated weekend of the season and claimed a tournament title for the third straight season (2024 – Memphis, 2025 – Tennessee State, 2026 – Purdue Fort Wayne). Additionally, Indiana State closed the non-conference slate with a 6-5 record, marking the first time since 2021 that the Sycamores will enter conference play above .500.
- In a five-set thriller on Saturday, Evansville closed non-conference play with a win over Southern Indiana. Savannah Gogel finished with a career-high 14 kills on .379 hitting paired with seven blocks. Ryan Scheu matched her career mark with 15 kills in the contest while Wren Jones finished with 13.
- Bradley ranks inside the top 20 nationally and lead the Conference as a team in assists (604), digs (728) and kills (648). Maria Drapp has accounted for 501 of the team’s 604 assists, ranking third in the country in the category, while Gracie Furlong’s 189 kills is the ninth-most in Division I.
- Northern Iowa leads the nation, averaging 39.49 attacks per set as a team. The Panthers’ Cassidy Hartman (12.37) and Lily Dykstra (11.78) lead the Conference and rank inside the top 15 in Division I in the category, while Hartman’s 184 kills are 12th in the country and second to Furlong.
- Drake’s Jasmine Dulan has a league-leading 245 digs this season, averaging 5.70 per set. The Bulldog libero ranks inside the top five nationally in each category.