UE back home for final home matches next week
 PEORIA, Ill. – Giulia Cardona and Melanie Feliciano recorded 19 and 18 kills, respectively, in a 3-1 setback to Bradley on Saturday evening in Renaissance Coliseum.
Cardona’s match-high 19 kills came along with 14 digs and two block assists. Feliciano also had a double-double for the Purple Aces (17-8, 7-7 MVC) adding 10 digs to her 18 kills. Alondra Vazquez was the third UE player to finish with a double-double, picking up 15 kills and 12 digs. Taya Haffner and Cecilia Thon led the squad in assists (28 and 27) while Thon picked up three aces.
Hannah Thompson led the Bradley (15-11, 11-4 MVC) attack with 12 kills and 14 digs. Serena Sparks led all players with her 16 digs.
Set 1 – Bradley 26, UE 24
Bradley jumped out to a 4-1 lead to open the night and would go up by as many as five points when they took a 15-10 advantage. With the Braves continuing to lead by five (17-12), the Aces made their move, going on an 8-2 run to take their first lead of the night at 20-19. Kills by Madisyn Steele and Melanie Feliciano made it an 18-16 game before the run continued with a Vazquez kill that gave the Aces the lead. Bradley countered with three in a row, but UE fought back once again to tie it at 22-22. With the game tied at 24-24, it was BU who added the final two points to take a 1-0 lead.
Set 2 – Bradley 25, UE 13
Another fast start saw the Braves take a 5-1 lead. After letting Evansville erase their advantage in the opening frame, Bradley kept the petal to the metal in the second, extending the lead to 13-5. The Aces were unable to close the gap with the Braves grabbing a 2-0 lead on the strength of the 25-13 win.
Set 3 – UE 27, Bradley 25
A Feliciano kill saw the Aces get off to their best start of the night, taking an early 5-4 edge. With the set knotted at 10-10, the Braves took their biggest edge at 17-12 as they looked to complete the 3-0 shutout. Evansville had other ideas, scoring the next six points to jump back in front at 18-17. Vazquez and Giulia Cardona had two kills apiece in the rally. The squad swapped the lead down the stretch before the Braves had set point, up 24-23. Down to its final point, the Aces took advantage of back-to-back Feliciano kills to go back in front. After BU tied it at 25-25, Feliciano and Vazquez forced a fourth set with a 27-25 win for UE.
Set 4 – Bradley 25, UE 21
In a close battle early on, the Braves held a 9-7 advantage. They would gradually add to their lead, going up by eight points at 23-15. With their opportunity for a win slipping away, the Aces made a final rally, scoring four in a row to make it a 23-19 game. Following a Bradley point, Vazquez added a kill before Cardona registered an ace to get UE back within three at 24-21. Unfortunately, the rally came just a few points too late when a kill sealed the 25-21 win in the fourth set and a 3-1 match.
The final home weekend of action is slated for next weekend when the Aces welcome Drake and UNI on Friday and Saturday.
