Aces travel to Indiana State and Illinois State
Coming off of its best weekend of Missouri Valley Conference play, the University of Evansville volleyball team looks to continue rolling in a pair of road matches at Indiana State and Illinois State.
The Purple Aces begin the weekend on Friday at Indiana State before traveling to Normal to face Illinois State on Saturday. Friday’s match begins at 6 p.m. CT while Saturday’s game against the Redbirds will begin at 7 p.m. Both will be televised by The Valley on ESPN3.
In two matches last weekend, Mildrelis Rodriguez led the Purple Aces to their first conference win of the season and came close to making it 2-0 in a hard-fought match against Loyola. Rodriguez notched a career-high 23 kills in a 5-set victory over Bradley on Friday while hitting .311. She also led all players with an impressive 19 digs. She followed that up with 15 more kills versus the Ramblers and 10 digs. For the weekend, she 3.80 kills per set and hit .212. She also notched 2.90 digs per frame.
Rocio Fortuny also had her best collegiate match against Bradley. The sophomore posted 19 kills in 48 attempt, besting her previous high of 17. She also matched her top mark of 13 digs in the triumph over the Braves. Fortuny ranks second on the team behind fellow sophomore Mildrelis Rodriguez with 2.19 kills per set. She has also done well on the defensive side with 0.44 blocks per set.
A strong weekend saw UE freshman Rachel Tam average 2.90 kills per game along with 2.10 digs as the Aces won their first MVC match of the season. Tam opened the weekend with a career-best 19 kills in the win over Bradley while hitting .406. She added 10 digs and a pair of block assists. Tam completed the weekend with 10 kills versus Loyola while hitting .333.
On Friday, the Aces open up the weekend with a trip to Terre Haute to face Indiana State. The Sycamores begin the weekend with a 9-15 record and are 3-9 in league play. In the meeting earlier this season in Evansville, Indiana State hung on for a victory in five sets. Kynedi Nalls continues to lead ISU with 3.38 kills per set, which is a tally that ranks fifth in the MVC.
Saturday will see the Aces travel to Illinois State. The Redbirds are in the midst of a four-way battle for second place in the Valley with an 8-4 conference mark while sitting at 15-9 overall. Jaelyn Keene ranks as the top hitter in the conference, checking in at .450. She has also gotten the job done with her serving, pacing the MVC with 0.45 service aces per game.
