 Cardona picks up 17 kills and 7 aces
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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The longest Missouri Valley Conference win streak in program history got a little longer on Saturday when the University of Evansville volleyball team won its 6th consecutive league match with a 3-0 sweep over Indiana State inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
Evansville’s streak pushes its record to 16-4 and 6-3 in the MVC. The league start matches the program’s best since entering the league in 1994; the Purple Aces began the 2000 campaign with a 6-3 mark through nine games.
Reigning MVC Player and Freshman of the Week Giulia Cardona made an argument for the repeat, leading all players with 17 kills and 7 service aces. The finished the match with 24 points in just three sets. Cardona’s 7 aces is her top collegiate mark and is the first such effort since Anne Teegardin recorded 7 in 2006, also against Indiana State.
Melanie Feliciano added 14 kills in the winning effort to go along with 6 digs. Taya Haffner recorded 38 assists while Blakeley Freeman and Alondra Vazquez led the team in digs, finishing with 9 and 8, respectively. The Sycamores (11-8, 3-6 MVC) were led by an 8-kill match by Kaitlyn Hamilton.
Set 1 – UE 26, Indiana State 16
After falling to Indiana State by a 3-0 final in the MVC opener last month, the Aces wasted little time in setting the tone. An ace by Alondra Vazquez highlighted a 5-2 run to open the match. The serving continued its dominant effort as consecutive aces by Giulia Cardona pushed the lead to 11-4. Melanie Feliciano added a pair of kills in the run. UE continued to be efficient from all spots on the floor with its middles – Hannah Watkins and Madisyn Steele – picking up kills to pace the team to a 25-16 win and an early 1-0 lead.
Set 2 – UE 25, Indiana State 17
Game two saw the teams battle to a 5-5 tie before Evansville wrestled away a 9-5 lead. Using its stellar serving to its advantage once again, Evansville saw Cardona rack up two more aces to take the lead. Indiana State stayed close, taking advantage of a pair of UE errors to get within one at 18-17. That is when a familiar face took matters into her own hands. Cardona got the Aces back on track with a kill before assuming the serving duties. She added two more aces while Feliciano recorded two more kills to complete the set on a 7-0 run, taking a 2-0 match lead on the strength of a 25-17 win.
Set 3 – UE 25, Indiana State 23
Early on, it looked like the Aces would clinch the match in runaway fashion. Another Cardona ace, coupled with a Feliciano kill, saw Evansville take an 8-3 advantage. ISU countered with a 4-0 rally to get within one, but Evansville responded with two in a row to go up 11-7. Three kills by Cardona helped the Aces pad their lead at 19-13, but a tenacious rally by the Sycamores made for an exciting finish. Madeline Williams picked up an ace that cut the UE lead to 21-19. Evansville retook control, going up 24-21 on a Cardona kill, but the Sycamores continued to fight back. Back-to-back kills made it a 24-23 game, but the defining moment came when Hannah Watkins delivered the winning kill to cap off a 25-23 win.
Evansville has won all four MVC home matches by 3-0 finals and looks to continue its home success next weekend with Valparaiso and league-leading Loyola coming to town,
