UE ready for Loyola on Saturday
 The undefeated home streak for the University of Evansville volleyball team in 2019 continued as the Purple Aces showed the heart of a champion as they earned a 3-2 win over Valparaiso on Friday night inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
UE (12-3, 3-1 MVC) improved its mark to a perfect 6-0 at home this season. Four of the Aces six home wins have come in five sets. The win gave Evansville its third win in four matches to begin the MVC schedule; it is the first 3-1 start for UE since the 2006 season.
“We were expecting them to be very good defensively and that is exactly what kind of match this turned out to be. It is great to pull off this victory,†UE coach Fernando Morales said. “The girls have had a lot going this week with classwork and to be able to see them fight through that against a good opponent is a positive sign. We have a lot of confidence heading into tomorrow’s match.â€
Freshman Melanie Feliciano led everyone with 21 kills; she has recorded at least 20 in all four MVC matches so far. Rachel Tam had 15 while Alondra Vazquez registered 14. Gabriela Macedo led the defense with 33 digs while Vazquez notched 14 and Allana McInnis finished the night with 13. McInnis dished out 53 assists. Hannah Watkins continued to rack up the blocks, totaling five block assists in the win.
Valparaiso (5-12, 0-3 MVC) was led by Jillie Grant’s 16 kills and Brittany Anderson’s 58 assists. As a team, the Crusaders had 34 block assists with Anderson and Peyton McCarthy posting nine apiece.
Evansville found its early success in its serving, posting three aces on its way to a 10-3 lead. Gabriela Macedo, Cecilia Thon and Laura Ruiz had one apiece for UE. The early lead reached as many as seven at 10-3, but the Crusaders hung around, getting within three at 19-16. A block assist by Rachel Tam and Hannah Watkins helped UE go back up by seven at 24-17, but Valparaiso had one more stand as they posted the next six tallies to make it a 24-23 game. UE fended off the challenge and scored the winning points on a VU error.
Melanie Feliciano posted a pair of kills to give Evansville a 4-2 lead before the Crusaders made their way back, taking their first lead of the night at 6-5. They added to it midway through the set, extending their advantage to 19-11. A kill by Tam ended the stretch, but the Crusaders managed to take the set by a 25-18 final and tie the match.
Feliciano added two early kills in the third frame as UE posted the first four points before opening up a 10-3 lead. Valparaiso responded with a 7-1 run that made it an 11-10 game before a block by Patricia Joseph and Allana McInnis temporarily ended the stretch. The Crusaders kept fighting back and managed to tie it up at 14-14. UE regained a 2-point lead, but VU tied it back up at 18-18 and took the lead at 22-21. Evansville rallied back for a 25-22 win. An Elena Redmond ace along with kills from Watkins and Vazquez clinched the win and a 2-1 lead.
                                                                                                                                  It was the Crusaders who had the early momentum in the fourth set, grabbing an 8-2 advantage. They continued to hold the lead at 10-4 when the Aces staged a rally. Back-to-back Tam kills, coupled with an ace from McInnis helped UE get back within a point at 10-9, but VU pushed their lead back to three at 15-12. After UE rallied once again to tie it up at 15, Valpo staged a run of their own, scoring the next four. Still down four at 21-17, Evansville never gave up as another ace from McInnis made it a 21-20 contest, but the Crusaders finished with a 25-22 win to force a fifth and deciding game.
UE scored seven of the first nine points to open up the lead before Valparaiso cut the gap to just a pair at 7-5. Tam got UE back on track with her 13th kill of the night before Vazquez added one of her own to make it a 10-6 game. Valparaiso got within a pair (11-9) before Feliciano took over in the final moments. She finished off the match with three consecutive kills as the Aces won by a 15-9 final.
“We won tonight because of our fight; we did not play our best, but in the end, we fought,†Morales added. “If not for the fight that we showed, we would not have won this match.â€
Tomorrow evening, the Aces are back home to face Loyola in a 5 p.m. match.
