Evansville defeats Missouri State, 3-1
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One of the biggest weekends in recent memory got started on a high note with the University of Evansville volleyball team taking a 3-1 win over Missouri State inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse on Friday night.
Entering the night, the Purple Aces (16-10, 7-8 MVC) were vying with Missouri State (9-21, 6-10 MVC), Southern Illinois and Valparaiso for a spot in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. UE got the job done, securing the season sweep over the Bears and would be on the cusp of clinching a spot in the tournament with a win tomorrow over the Salukis.
“Since last week, our goals were to secure a winning season, which we did against Indiana State. This week it was to get closer to .500 in conference and we did what we had to do tonight,†UE head coach Fernando Morales said after the win. “We had a great week of practice. They knew from Monday what this weekend meant to us. Hopefully we can keep it going tomorrow.â€
Sophomore Alondra Vazquez had the best night of her career, tallying 29 kills and 12 digs. Her kill total passed her previous high of 25, which was set last season against UNI. Melanie Feliciano made some history herself with a 22-kill contest. She now has 435 in her freshman campaign, passing Jessica Kiefer’s freshman season kill record of 434. Kiefer set her mark in 1997.
Gabriela Macedo had another stellar night defensively, adding 34 digs. Her season total of 622 34 shy of Julie Walroth’s single-season mark. Allana McInnis added 56 more assists to her season total and stands at 1,114, putting her in the top ten in the UE single-season record book. The Bears saw Chloe Rear post 13 kills with Emelie Orlando notching 24 helpers.
Missouri State had the upper hand early on, taking a 9-6 lead. Elena Redmond helped UE retake the lead as she did the serving in a 4-0 run that included an ace. A back-and-forth contest saw the Bears retake a 13-12 edge before two in a row put Evansville back on top. MSU was able to wrestle away a 19-16 lead on a kill from Sarabi Worsley-Gilbert. With the bears still up by three (21-18), the Aces made a huge rally by scoring four in a row. A kill from Alondra Vazquez got the run started while Feliciano also added a kill to put UE in front, 22-21. Vazquez added the final two kills to clinch the 25-22 decision and a 1-0 Aces lead.
Evansville scored the opening two in the second set before the Bears defense registered four blocks in a row to take their first lead. Their advantage extended to 8-5 before the Aces rallied with six of the next seven points to go up 11-9. Patricia Joseph and McInnis extended the rally with a double block, forcing an MSU time out. The run continued as an ace from McInnis helped to push the lead out to five. Vazquez helped the Aces lead by as many as nine points at 22-13 as she added two more kills and a block as UE cruised to the 25-18 win.
UE’s first lead of the third game came when the 14th kill for Vazquez made it a 5-4 game. Missouri State grabbed the lead right back, opening a 9-7 advantage before back-to-back Feliciano kills put the Aces in front – 10-9. The Bears were able to make their way back in front and take a 20-15 edge. They extended it to as many as seven points before winning, 25-20.
In the fourth, it was UE going up by a pair at 5-3 before MSU scored three straight along with a 6-5 lead. They would hold that edge until Vazquez added another kill, her 23rd, to put UE back in front at 10-9. Missouri State did not go away, taking advantage of an Amelia Flynn service ace to take a 15-11 lead. Two Vazquez kills cut the deficit in half before the Aces came all the way back to go back in front at 19-18.  Joseph and Feliciano combined for the block that gave UE the lead. From there, it was all Aces. They held strong to clinch the match on the strength of a 25-21 decision.
