Junior led the MVC with 4.43 kills per see
ST. LOUIS – University of Evansville junior Alondra Vazquez capped off a spectacular 2021 spring season by being named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team in an announcement by the league on Wednesday.
Vazquez paced the MVC with an average of 4.43 kills per set over the course of the season. Her success was not limited to the offensive side as her defensive mark of 3.55 digs per set finished in the top 15 in the league. The native of Toa Alta, Puerto Rico finished the regular season as the national leader with 1,060 attacks while finishing second with 14.13 attacks per set.
“I am so proud of Alondra, she worked really hard from becoming a defensive player to an all-around player,†UE head volleyball coach Fernando Morales said. “From beginning to end, she was one of the most dominant players in the conference and, in my opinion, the most complete player.â€
In total, Vazquez completed the season with 332 kills, a total that paced the Valley and ranked 10th in the NCAA. Her career mark of 32 kills came in a dominant effort that was the first of its kind in the history of the conference. On March 7 at Drake, Vazquez totaled 32 kills and 32 digs in what was the first 30-dig, 30-kill performance in MVC history and one of fewer than 10 such efforts that have been recorded in the entire NCAA since the 1980’s.
After leading the Purple Aces in double-doubles in 2019, she did the same with 13 in 2021. She finished with 20+ kills on eight occasions while posting 20 or more digs in four matches this spring. In her most consistent series of the season, she averaged 5.57 kills and 4.43 digs per frame in a pair of wins against Southern Illinois on her way to MVC Player of the Week accolades on March 16.
This marks the fifth time that an Evansville player has received MVC First Team honors in volleyball. Vazquez is the first to do so since 2014 when Ashley Ring earned a spot on the team.
