Rachel Tam posted 25 kills while Mildrelis Rodriguez notched 14 and Kerra Cornist finished with 12 to pace the University of Evansville volleyball team in a 3-2 win over Tennessee State on Tuesday evening inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
Tam added 12 digs and five blocks to her total. Rodriguez led everyone with a career-high 24 digs and hit .303. Cornist hit .348 in the impressive effort as her 12 kills marked a career high. Allana McInnis also set her top UE (6-4) mark with 60 assists.
Tennessee State (2-8) was led by Johanna Kruize and Rachel Henderson who had 14 kills apiece.
Mildrelis Rodriguez notched five kills in the opening set to help the Aces take a 25-14 win. The teams battled in the early part of the set with UE holding a 12-10 lead. The course of the frame changed in a 6-1 stretch as Rodriguez posted a pair of kills to put UE up by seven – 18-11. Rachel Tam also added a service ace. With Evansville holding a 20-14 advantage, Elena Redmond did the serving as UE reeled off the final four points, capped off by an ace of her own.
With the second frame knotted up at 2-2, UE scored four in a row with Alondra Vazquez posting the first kill of her UE career. Olivia Goldstein also added an ace as UE took the lead. Tennessee State fought back within a point at 11-10 and remained in the hunt until a 5-0 run by UE would see them extend their lead to 20-15. A Rocio Fortuny ace and a Kerra Cornist kill highlighted the rally. UE would hold on for the 25-17 win.
Evansville made its first run, scoring three in a row with the game tied up at 3-3 as Olivia Goldstein had an ace before Tam registered a kill to give UE a 6-3 advantage. The Tigers marched back as an 8-1 rally gave them an 11-7 lead. Kylie Hayes served well, posting an ace in their run.
Facing their largest deficit of the match, UE came right back. A double block by Fortuny and Patricia Joseph got the team within one at 14-13 before a Tam kill tied it up on the next point. The Aces went on to grab the lead at 17-16. After TSU grabbed a 20-19 lead, an Allana McInnis ace put the lead back on UE’s side at 21-20. Evansville pushed its lead back up to four at 24-20, but Tennessee State had one more run left. The Tigers reeled off four in a row to tie it up at 24-24. Rachel Tam had her biggest kill of the night to give UE match point, but TSU was able to pull off a 29-27 triumph.
After the Tigers opened game four on a 3-1 stretch, the Aces found their groove as the notched three to take a 4-3 lead. TSU roared back with five in a row to go up 8-4. The early stretch of runs continued with the Aces posting four in a row of their own to tie it right back up at 8-8. Tennessee State retook the lead and pulled away to a 21-15 lead before tying the match with a 25-23 win.
UE scored the first two points of the fifth set with Cornist and Tam recording kills before extending that lead to 8-1. Following a TSU point, Evansville continued to roll, going up 11-2 before taking the 15-4 win to clinch the match.
This weekend, the Aces wrap up their non-conference schedule in Dayton, Ohio where they will take on Ohio State, Tennessee and host Dayton.
