ST. LOUIS – Illinois State volleyball senior Mekaila Aupiu was selected as the Missouri Valley Conference Setter of the Year to highlight a group of three Illinois State volleyball student-athletes honored with individual honors by the conference, as announced on Saturday morning.

Along with being named MVC Setter of the Year, Aupiu is joined by junior Aida Shadewald on the All-MVC First Team, marking Aupiu's first time as an All-Conference First Team selection in her illustrious collegiate career.

Shadewald earns her third MVC individual honor and her second-straight first-team selection, becoming the first Redbird to be named First Team in back-to-back seasons since 2019 and 2020-21 (Stef Jankiewicz).

Finally, Khenedi Guest rounds out the conference honors as the Benton, Ark. native was named the MVC Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the MVC All-Freshman Team.

The Missouri Valley Conference Setter of the Year, Aupiu, is not only one of the most consistent players in the league, she's also one of the best in the nation. Aupiu finishes the regular season ranked 1st in the NCAA with 1,289 assists and 46th in the NCAA with 10.07 assists per set this season.

Of Aupiu's 1,289 assists, 796 came during a tough MVC schedule, where she averaged 10.90 assists per set. She has finished with 35+ assists in 25 of ISU's 31 matches during the regular season, including 14 times with 45+ assists in a single match. Aupiu becomes the first Redbird to have more than 1,000 assists in a season since 2019 when Jankiewicz finished the year with 1,329.

Aupiu becomes the third Redbird and first since 2020-21 to earn the title of MVC Setter of the Year.

Shadewald, a Prairie du Sac, Wis. native, finished the regular season in the top-10 among MVC athletes for kills, kills per set, service aces, and aces. The junior outside hitter finished the 2024 regular season with 362 total kills, averaging 3.58 kills/set. The Wisconsin native also recorded 41 aces and 422 total points.

In MVC matches, Shadewald averaged 3.78 kills per set, 20 service aces, and 204 points. Earlier this season, Shadewald became only the 23rd Redbird in school history to reach 1,000 career kills, as she has totaled 1,049 kills in her three years as a Redbird.

For the second time in three seasons, the Redbirds have placed an athlete on the All-Freshman Team. Guest finished the regular season with 261 kills (2.35 kills/set) and 94 blocks (0.85 blocks/set) in her debut season for Illinois State.

Throughout the 2024 season, Guest finished with double-digits kills in 14 matches, including a five-game streak with 10 kills or more during conference play from October 4 to October 14.

Guest, a three-time MVC Freshman of the Week honoree, is the fifth Redbird in the last 20 years and first since 2017 to earn the title of MVC Freshman of the Year.

UP NEXT

The Redbird volleyball team is back in action on Sunday, November 24 at 3 p.m. when they face the winner of the No. 5 Bradley/No. 8 Missouri State in the 2024 MVC quarterfinals on the campus of UNI.

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