2018 (Senior Year): Appeared in all 33 matches and all 115 sets, starting every match as the team’s libero for the fourth season … earned MVC Defensive Player of the Week award four times, finishing her career with a Valley record 14 weekly honors … named the MVC Libero of the Year for the second time in her career, becoming just the fourth volleyball player in Valley history to win multiple Libero of the Year awards … broke the MVC career digs mark at Loyola Chicago (11/9), and finished her career fourth all-time in NCAA Division I history with 2,778 digs – with this feat, she is the highest-ranking player on the career chart to have played her entire volleyball career in the 25-point era … earned a spot on the All-MVC First Team, MVC All-Tournament Team and MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team … given spots on the Benson Hospitality Invitational All-Tournament Team at Georgia and Cougar Challenge All-Tournament Team at nationally-ranked Washington State … named to the AVCA All-North Region First Team for the second-straight year … was named a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award … became ISU program’s first repeat AVCA All-American earning an honorable mention … led the team and MVC in total digs (695) … delivered a team-high 25 service aces, with five of those coming in a straight-set win over Loyola Chicago (10/13) … turned in a season-high 41 digs in ISU’s thrilling five-set win over nationally-ranked UNI to post a perfect undefeated record at Redbird Arena for just the second time in program history.
2017 (Junior Year): Appeared in all 35 matches and all 131 sets, starting every match as the team’s libero for the third season … earned MVC Defensive Player of the Week award for the 10th time in her career, breaking the previous record of nine set by UNI’s Ellie Blankenship … garnered five MVC Defensive Player of the Week honors … named AVCA All-America Honorable Mention and to the AVCA All-Region team … given a spot on the All-MVC First Team … earned a spot on the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team … named to the MVC and Hamilton Classic All-Tournament Teams … named Best Defender at Baylor Invitational … finished the season with the most digs (821), helping the Redbirds to a program record of 2,515 total digs … holds the single-season digs record among juniors and overall at Illinois State … led all NCAA Division I players in total digs, while ranking second in digs per set (6.27) … broke the school’s career digs record (2,083) … topped 20 digs on 21 occasions … tallied double-digit digs in all 35 matches … ranked second on the team in assists (111) and assists per set (0.85) … finished fourth on the team in aces (24) and aces per set (0.18).
2016 (Sophomore Year): Appeared in all 32 matches and all 118 sets, again starting every match as the team’s libero … named the Missouri Valley Conference Libero of the Year … earned All-MVC First-Team honors … earned MVC Defensive Player of the Week honors three times (9/19, 9/26 and 10/24) … named the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week (9/27) … earned MVC Scholar-Athlete Team Honorable Mention status … named Illinois State Most Improved Player … named to UNI Tournament All-Tournament Team (9/16-17) … led Illinois State and MVC in digs (652) and digs per set (5.53) … ranked fifth in NCAA Division I in digs per set and seventh in total digs … season digs total ranked as second most in school history and 10th most in MVC history … set Illinois State single-match record with 44 digs at Northern Iowa (9/16), the fifth-highest single-match total in MVC history … tallied 39 digs at home against Bradley (9/24), an Illinois State and Redbird Arena three-set record … registered 38 digs in a MVC Tournament match against Missouri State (11/25), an MVC Tournament record … tallied the first-, fourth- and fifth-most single-match digs in school history … became the 13th player in school history to reach 1,000 career digs … tallied double-digit digs in all but one match … topped 20 digs on 13 occasions … ranked third on the team in assists (112) and assists per set (0.95) … ranked third on the team in aces (18) and aces per set (0.15) … dished out a career-high nine assists versus Drake (11/19) … earned a varsity letter … named to the MVC and AFNI honor rolls … earned the MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award.
2015 (Freshman Year): Appeared in all 32 matches and all 119 sets, starting every match as the team’s libero … earned All-MVC Second-Team honors … named to the MVC All-Freshman Team … twice named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week (10/9 and 10/26) … led her team and the conference in total digs (610) and digs per set (5.13) … posted the third-most total digs in a season, while maintaining the fifth-highest digs per set average, in program history … set Illinois State freshman digs record … twice tallied 34 digs in a match, tied for the 10th-highest single-match total in program history … ranked third among Redbirds in total assists (125) and assists per set (1.05) … ranked second on the team in aces (23) and third in aces per set (0.19) … tallied double-digit digs in all but one match … tallied 20-plus digs 13 times … recorded 30 or more digs three times … tallied a career-high three aces versus Long Beach State (9/4) … notched first-career kill at Drake (10/31) … tallied a season-high eight assists on two occasions … made Redbird debut and first start at Miami (8/28) … earned a varsity letter … named to the MVC and AFNI honor rolls.
Springfield High School: Four-year starter for the volleyball team … three-time all-state selection … four-time team MVP … four-time all-conference selection … named 2014 Central State Eight Volleyball Player of the Year … two-time Prep Volleyball Defensive Dandy … also recognized by Prep Volleyball on annual freshman and sophomore teams … holds school records with 1,576 career kills and 1,393 career digs … ranks ninth all-time in the state of Illinois in career kills … team won four-straight city tournaments … team won back-to-back regional titles her junior and senior years … competed at the club level, and was a two-time AAU All-American … club team took second at AAU Nationals in 2014 … also a three-year starter for her school’s basketball team … named to the honor roll all four years … named a Senator Scholar … member of the National Honor Society … academic all-conference selection.
Personal: Courtney Lena Pence … born Jan. 12, 1997 … daughter of Michael and Nancy Pence … has two older siblings, Megan and Tyler … parents and sister attended Illinois State … mom competed in track and field at Illinois State … dad played baseball at Kankakee Community College … brother competed in track and field and cross country at Southern Indiana … majoring in entrepreneurship and small business management.
