Mildrelis Rodriguez and Rachel Tam recorded 15 kills apiece to lead the University of Evansville volleyball team to a 3-0 win at Southern Illinois on Saturday.
As a team, the Purple Aces (9-22, 3-12 MVC) hit .282 with Kerra Cornist leading the way, hitting .467 on her way to eight kills. Rodriguez hit an accurate .379 with 15 kills while Tam finished at .205. Alondra Vazquez chipped in nine kills. Allana McInnis had 44 assists on the night while tying for the game-high with 10 digs. Vazquez also finished with 10.
Southern Illinois (5-22, 1-13 MVC) was led by Lindsey Paulsen’s six kills.
A service ace by Rachel Tam saw the Aces jump out to a 6-2 lead. The Aces continued to hold that advantage until the Salukis closed within one at 12-11. Back-to-back kills from Mildrelis Rodriguez and Rocio Fortuny set UE back on track as they scored three in a row to go up 15-11. SIU got within a tally once again, but the Aces finished strong as another Tam ace gave UE a 25-16 win.
Fortuny helped her team get off to another 6-2 start in the second set with her first ace of the evening. Evansville’s lead hovered around 3-4 points until late in the set when consecutive aces from Alondra Vazquez extended the UE lead to 20-12. From there, the Aces won by a 25-18 final.
Evansville put the finishing touches on the night with a 25-12 win in the third frame. The Salukis jumped out to a 5-4 lead, but the Aces came back with four in a row to take the lead for good. Rodriguez notched two kills in the run. After SIU got within two at 9-7, the Aces reeled off eight in a row as Allana McInnis did the serving. From there, it was all UE as they were able to complete the sweep.
Indiana State is next up for the Aces as they travel to Terre Haute on Friday for a 5 p.m. CT contest.
