Non-conference play comes to a close this weekend as the University of Evansville volleyball team is set to take on Ball State, Butler and Duquesne over the next three days. UE faces the Cardinals on Thursday in Muncie before squaring off against the Bulldogs Friday. Evansville takes on Duquesne Saturday in Indianapolis.
As the Purple Aces opened up their home schedule over the weekend, Allana McInnis continued her strong contributions as the setter for UE. In three matches, she posted a total of 89 assists, 7.42 per set. She also contributed a total of 16 digs, seven kills and four block assists. She started off with 20 assists versus Indiana University before tallying 47 helpers and four kills versus UAB. That assist total was one short of her career high. In the weekend finale, she had 22 assists against UT Martin. She was named to the All-Tournament Team for the Dunn Hospitality Invitational. She is sixth in the MVC with 8.33 assists per set.
Rachel Tam has evolved as an offensive force for the Purple Aces and had one of the best weekends of her sophomore career at the Dunn Hospitality Invitational. She started off with 10 kills and 8 digs against a strong Hoosier team. Against UAB, she had the best match of her career, setting career marks with 22 kills and 54 attempts. In the weekend finale, she recorded 10 kills and 11 digs. Averaging 3.30 kills per set, Tam ranks seventh in the conference.
Cathy Schreiber is second on the squad with 2.51 kills/set. She has finished with at least eight kills in eight of the nine matches this season. SHe upped her average to 2.92 per game in the Dunn Hospitality Invitational. In the season-opening tournament at Western Illinois, Schreiber was the MVP.
Ball State enters the weekend with a 6-4 mark as they have played a tough schedule thus far. Despite being 1-3 in their last four matches, the Cardinals have played tough competition, forcing four sets against #25 Colorado State and #16 Michigan. They also have wins against two MVC programs in Indiana State and Bradley. Brooklyn Goodsel leads BSU with 3.06 kills.
Friday’s match will see the Aces face Butler in Muncie. The Bulldogs enter the weekend with a 7-2 record with wins coming last week against Kent State and the College of Charleston. Whitney Beck is an offensive force for Butler, checking in with a total of 134 kills on the season, an average of 4.06 per game.
The final match of the weekend will see Evansville take on Duquesne on Butler’s campus. The Dukes stand at 4-7 on the year and took part in the Nike Classic in Eugene, Oregon last week, facing Wichita State, Cal Poly and Oregon. Their top offensive force is Maria Mosbacher with 3.62 kills/frame.
