Aces back in action at 7 p.m
One day after setting her career mark with 28 kills, University of Evansville junior Rachel Tam posted 22 kills to help the Purple Aces volleyball squad to a 3-1 win over Fairleigh Dickinson.
Tam hit .288 in the efficient effort for UE. Mildrelis Rodriguez finished with kills while fellow senior Rocio Fortuny added 11. Fortuny and Joselyn Coronel each posted six blocks. Gabriela dos Santos reset her career mark with 28 digs while freshman Cecilia Thon notched 32 assists.
Evansville set the early tone in game one, jumping out to a 7-1 lead. Rachel Tam picked up right where she left off on Friday, recording three early kills. Momentum continued to swing the Aces way as a pair of kills from Mildrelis Rodriguez and Rocio Fortuny saw the lead extended to 12-3.
Kerra Cornist got in on the action as her second kill of the game pushed the lead to ten points at 15-5. Fairleigh Dickinson cut the gap to as little as six points before a Rodriguez kill sealed a 25-17 win.
The Knights took an early 4-1 lead in the second stanza and continued to lead at 11-9. That is when Evansville picked up the pace, finishing the set on a 16-3 stretch to take a 2-0 match lead. Keying the rally was a 7-0 stretch that pushed the Aces to their first lead of the set at 16-11. Gabriela dos Santos notched a service ace while Tam posted two more kills. A Lauren Murray ace coupled with a kill by Elizabeth Giller put the finishing touches on a 25-14 win.
In the third frame, UE took an early 3-2 lead, but it was all Knights from there. They retook the lead at 4-3 and pushed the advantage to nine points at 20-11. They earned their first set of the morning with a 25-17 victory.
Game four was the most competitive set of the match with neither team backing down. After the Aces took a 3-1 lead, the Knights rallied with three tallies to take their first edge at 4-3. A Joselyn Coronel ace highlighted a stretch that saw the Aces retake the lead at 9-6. Fairleigh Dickinson once again battled back to tie it up at 10-10. Nine ties ensued, leading to a 19-19 score. That is when one of UE’s seniors stepped up to give her team the lead for good.
Rocio Fortuny posted a kill to give UE a 20-19 edge before another one pushed the lead to 22-19. Rodriguez then added an ace of her own as the team rallied to finish with a 25-19 win and clinch its second match of the weekend and second consecutive 2-0 start to a season.
