With Missouri Valley Conference action just over a week away, the University of Evansville volleyball team faces its final non-conference test this weekend, traveling to Martin, Tenn. for the Skyhawk Invitational. Evansville opens with matches against UT Martin and Little Rock on Friday before completing the tournament on Saturday against Mercer.
Last Week Recap
– Just three days after Melanie Feliciano set the program record with 36 kills, Rachel Tam recorded 39 as the Aces took down Tennessee Tech in a 5-set thriller
– Tam’s 39 kills came in just 75 attempts as she hit .333; Feliciano had 19 in the win
– Allana McInnis excelled once again with 64 assists and 19 digs
– Last weekend, the Aces went 3-0 in the home Dunn Hospitality Tournament for the first time since 2010
– Feliciano’s 29 against Purdue Fort Wayne helped the Aces grab a 3-1 win; Alondra Vazquez and Rachel Tam added 14 kills apiece
– UE notched another 3-1 win in Saturday’s opener against Middle Tennessee State; Feliciano posted 27 kills with Tam totaling 14
– The most exciting match of the weekend came on Saturday evening when the Aces overcame a 14-10 deficit in the fifth set to defeat Eastern Illinois, 3-2
– Feliciano and Gabriela Macedo each broke program records in the win
Record Breaker
– Rachel Tam had one of the best games in MVC history registering 39 kills in the win over Tennessee Tech
– Her total set the Evansville program record was second in conference history, just one off of the all-time mark
– Tam’s 39 kills was the most for any NCAA Division I player in 2019
– Now averaging 4.09 kills/set, Tam is third in the MVC
– Tam has had at least seven kills in all eight matches in 2019
A Helping Hand
– Over the last two matches, Allana McInnis has had a total of 129 assists; that averages out to 12.9 per set
– She set her career mark with 65 against EIU before tallying 64 versus Tennessee Tech
– For the season, she is averaging 11.19 assists per set, tops in the MVC and 15th nationally
– She has recorded at least 29 helpers in seven out of the eight matches in 2019
– McInnis posted 22 or more assists in each of the last 14 matches of 2018 and has done so seven out of eight times in 2019
Top of the Valley
– Evansville currently leads the MVC with 13.69 assists per set and 14.63 kills per game
– Those stats rank 9th and 11th in the nation, respectively
– On the individual side, Allana McInnis paces the league with 11.19 assists, Melanie Feliciano is atop the conference with 5.19 kills/set and Hannah Watkins has posted a league-leading 1.35 blocks
– Gabriela Macedo is second in the league with 5.09 digs per set
Scouting the Opposition
– Host UT Martin is the first opponent of the weekend; the Skyhawks begin play with a 3-8 mark
– UTM has dropped its last five matches following a 3-game win streak with victories over FIU, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Gardner-Webb
– Jessica Reynolds has a team-high 2.26 kills while Kenzie Hinshaw has averaged 7.59 assists
– Little Rock enters the Skyhawk Invitational with a 2-7 mark, but have won their last two match-ups against Oral Roberts and Central Arkansas
– Carol Barbosa checks in with a team-high 2.95 kills per game with the defense being paced by Diana Giordani’s 4.50 digs
– Mercer will mark the final opponent of the tournament and comes into the weekend with a 5-5 record after defeating Southern and Tennessee State at the New Orleans Invitational
– Annie Karle has a team-high 2.97 kills per game with Emilee Wissmach posting 2.76 digs
