Aces earn dominant 3-0 win over Indiana State

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Aces spread the offense around in big win

 

A dominant effort by the University of Evansville volleyball team saw four players finish with nine kills or more to lead the Purple Aces to a 3-0 victory over Indiana State on Saturday evening inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

Leading the way for UE (8-14, 2-7 MVC) was junior Rachel Tam.  She had 16 kills and hit .324 on the night.  Kerra Cornist and Mildrelis Rodriguez recorded 10 apiece while Alondra Vazquez finished with nine.  Cornist hit a strong .643, with her 10 kills coming in 14 tries.  She also had four block assists and one solo block.  Allana McInnis continued to play well, finishing with 41 assists while Rodriguez, Vazquez and Olivia Goldstein registered 10 digs each.  Madeline Williams notched 10 kills for Indiana State (8-13, 1-8 MVC)

After Indiana State scored the first point of the night, Rachel Tam got UE on track posting three kills as part of a 5-0 run to give UE a 5-1 lead.  She helped the team continue its pace as the Aces went up by a score of 11-6.  The Sycamores fought back within a pair at 13-11 before Alondra Vazquez had a kill to end the run.  From there, it was all aces.  Olivia Goldstein notched a service ace to help UE pull away for a 25-16 win.

The Sycamores took a 3-1 lead to open up game two and extended it to 6-3 after the Aces tied it up at 3-3.  Evansville chipped away as a Rachel Tam ace tied it up at 7-7 before Kerra Cornist notched a kill to give UE its first lead of the set at 8-7.  ISU tied it right back up, but another Cornist kill helped the Aces retake the lead, pushing their advantage out to 13-8.  Evansville finished well once again as an ace from Vazquez capped off another 25-16 victory.

Game three saw ISU jump out to a 5-2 edge before Cornist got UE right back in it.  Her third kill of the frame gave the Aces their first lead of the set at 7-6.  Evansville would pull out to a 10-7 lead, but the Sycamores roared back to tie it up at 10-10.  Tam’s 12th and 13th kills of the night gave UE a 12-10 lead, but Indiana State rallied with four in a row to open up a 2-point lead.

Cornist was the star of the set once again, hitting double figures in kills as UE tied it up at 15-15.  The turning point on the night came with the score tied at 18-18.  The third service ace of the evening for Alondra Vazquez sent her team on a 4-0 run to go up 22-18.  The Aces held on from there, clinching the match with a 25-21 win.

Road play continues next weekend as UE heads to Valparaiso and Loyola.