 Aces home Friday and Saturda
Missouri Valley Conference play continues for the University of Evansville volleyball team as they take on Illinois State and Indiana State at the Carson Center on Friday and Saturday. Monday evening will see Evansville head west for a match at Missouri State.
All three matches will begin at 7 p.m. and each will be carried live by The Valley on ESPN3. Starting this weekend, there will be a new feature utilized during ESPN3 broadcasts at UE. A net cam will be used for the first time, giving fans a brand new and unique angle during the game.
Mildrelis Rodriguez has been Evansville’s top offensive player over the last week of action. She led UE in all three matches with 3.00 kills per set, a total of 27 for the week. Rodriguez was also second on the team with 23 digs over that stretch. She leads the team with an average of 2.94 kills per frame overall. Earlier this season against Jacksonville State, she set career marks with 20 kills in 61 attempts.
The improvement for setter Jelena Merseli has continued. Through her first 15 sets of the season, she notched an average of 4.3 assists per set. Over the last 50 sets, she has notched an average of 7.48 assists and ranks 7th in the MVC at 6.83. She has posted a total of 430 assists this year.
Erlicia Griffith continues to be one of the top blockers in the MVC. Her season average checks in at 1.16 per frame. Her total is on pace to be the highest for the Purple Aces since Meaghan Holmes averaged 1.17 per set in 2012.  Griffith had a career-best five solo blocks against Jacksonville State. Her top match came against SEMO where she had 2 solo blocks, 9 block assists and a total of 11 for the match. She also set her mark with seven kills in that match.
Illinois State is the first opponent of the weekend. The Redbirds are 11-6 overall and 4-1 in Valley play. They began the conference season winning their first four matches before falling at Drake on Monday by a final of 3-0. Jaelyn Keene is the top hitter in the league, sitting a .473. She has also averaged a league-best 0.40 service aces per frame.
Sitting at 7-9 overall and 1-3 in the MVC is Indiana State. The Sycamores defeated Bradley by a 3-1 final in their conference opener before falling in their last three contests. Demadj Johnson ranks third in the Valley with 1.02 blocks per set while Kynedi Nalls is 5th in the conference with 3.96 points/set.
In another Monday road match, UE will travel to Missouri State. The Bears come into the weekend sitting at 11-7 and an even 2-2 in the league. They are coming off of a pair of solid road wins at UNI and Drake, both finishing in five sets. Lily Johnson comes in as one of the top offensive players in the country. Her 4.40 kills per frame is 0.71 more than anyone else in the conference.
