UE welcomes Drake on Saturday evening
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Following an opening set that saw the University of Evansville volleyball team give Northern Iowa everything it could handle, the Panthers fended off the challenge to take a 3-0 win on Friday evening inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
Melanie Feliciano and Giulia Cardona were each held to a season-low six kills apiece. Angelica Gonzalez Maltes picked up the first two kills of her career while Chloe Cline tied her season mark with three. Lexi Owen also added her first collegiate kill while Holland Morris was on the floor for the first time as an Ace.
The Panthers were led by Emily Holterhaus’ 18 kills.
Game 1 – UNI 25, UE 21
After Northern Iowa started the evening with a 6-2 lead, Evansville called a time out and immediately responded. Helped by two Emilee Scheumann kills and an ace from Cardona, the Aces tied the score at 6-6. The Panthers wrestled the lead away and would push their advantage to 14-11.
Once again, the Aces countered as a 5-1 run saw UE take its first lead of the match. Scheumann added another kill while Chloe Cline recorded one of her own. A pair of kills from Feliciano helped UE take its largest lead at 20-16 as the Aces looked to open the night with a win. Unfortunately, UNI had the answer in the form of a 9-1 rally to end the set and take a 25-21 decision.
Game 2 – UNI 25, UE 17
Evansville performed extremely well in the opening moments of the seconds frame as they turned a 6-3 deficit into an 11-8 lead. Another ace from Cardona highlighted the stretch while the Aces forced three Panther errors.
UNI quickly responded with six in a row to retake a 14-11 lead. From there, they would pull away to take a 25-17 victory and a 2-0 match lead. In total, they completed the set on a 17-6 run.
Game 3 – UNI 25, UE 8
Already up 2-0 in the match, the Panthers scored 11 of the first 13 points and would not look back as they clinched the match win with a 25-8 decision in the set.
On Saturday, the Aces welcome Drake for a 5 p.m. contest inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
