Road trip continues on Saturday
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Big starts in the first two sets catapulted Northern Iowa to a 3-0 win over the University of Evansville volleyball team on Friday evening at the McLeod Center.
Giulia Cardona led the Purple Aces with six kills while Ainoah Cruz led the way with 14 digs. Kora Ruff added 10 assists. UNI was led by Kira Fallert’s 11 kills.
Set 1 – UNI 25, UE 9
A quick start saw the Panthers score the opening four points of the night before Giulia Cardona got the Aces on the board with a kill. Despite the point, UNI kept the pressure on, opening a 9-1 lead before cruising to a 25-9 win to take the early match lead.
Set 2 – UNI 25, UE 7
Another quick start saw the Panthers post the first six points of the set. Following a time out, the Aces forced a pair of UNI errors to get on the board. Holland Morris picked up a kill as UE closed the gap to 9-4. From that point, Northern Iowa outscored the Aces by a 16-3 margin to take a 2-0 lead
Set 3 – UNI 25, UE 18
Josdarilee Caraballo had an ace to give Evansville its first lead of the night at 3-1. Cardona recorded a kill that continued to keep UE in front at 5-3. With the Aces up 8-6, UNI scored three in a row to jump in front before extending the lead to 14-10.
Evansville continued to battle to the final point before the Panthers clinched the match with a 25-18 decision. UE completes the road trip on Saturday with a 4 p.m. match at Drake.
