UE finishes season with 16 victories
 Down one of its best players, the University of Evansville volleyball team gave Illinois State everything it could handle, but came up just short on Thursday evening in the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Championships at the McLeod Center.
UE was led by Rachel Tam, who recorded 17 kills. The senior finishes her career with 1,469 kills in her career, third in program history. Alondra Vazquez had another nice match, adding another double-double with 10 kills and 19 digs. Gabriela Macedo added 23 digs in the match and finishes the 2019 season with 704. It is the 7th-best season in MVC history and she is just the seventh player to post 700 or more kills. She set the Evansville record last weekend. Allana McInnis added 22 assists and finished the year with 1,228. Her final total was the 4th-most in UE program history in a single season.
The first two points of the match belonged to the Aces and both were kills from Rachel Tam. ISU scored the next four points to take their first lead. UE matched its 2-point edge when a service ace by Cecilia Thon made it a 9-7 game. The turning point came when it was tied at 11-11. Illinois State posted the next six points and took the first set by a 25-21 final.
Gabriela Macedo posted a service ace in the opening moments of the second set and helped the Purple Aces open up a 3-1 lead. UE would add to its advantage as Vazquez recorded two kills and an ace to solidify a 13-6 lead. Evansville’s advantage held strong at 18-12 before ISU made another big rally, reeling of nine points in a row to take their first lead in the set since going up 1-0. The Aces closed within one on four occasions before Illinois State fended off the challenge, taking a 25-23 win and a 2-0 match lead.
Illinois State began the third frame by scoring the first six. Evansville countered by posting nine of the next 11 tallies to take their first lead at 9-8. Chloe Bontrager had a kill that got UE within a pair before Tam notched two in a row to put the Aces in front. Seven lead changes saw the teams battle to a 20-20 tie as Tam added another kill. That is when the Redbirds would take control, posting the last five points to take the 25-20 decision and clinch the match.
