Cardona and Feliciano shine in win over Bradley

Aces take down Braves by a 3-0 final

 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Back inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse for the first time in three weeks, the University of Evansville volleyball team came out on fire, defeating Bradley by a 3-0 final.

Setting the tone for the Purple Aces was the duo of Giulia Cardona and Melanie Feliciano.  Cardona led everyone with 16 kills while racking up five service aces.  She became the first UE (11-4, 1-3 MVC) player to register five aces since Mildrelis Rodriguez did so against UNI in 2018.  Feliciano added 12 kills in the win.

“I knew that what our team went through over the last week would make us stronger.  This is a great group who came together when we needed it,” Purple Aces head coach Fernando Morales said.  “Our message this week was to keep playing our game.  Play the serve, swing every ball and hustle.  We stayed with that for the entire match tonight and that made the difference.”

Alondra Vazquez added 11 kills and a match-high 13 digs.  Taya Haffner picked up 37 assists while Madisyn Steele had a pair of block assists.  Pacing Bradley (6-9, 2-2 MVC) was Raeann Bergman, who recorded six kills.

Set 1

Game one went back and forth in the early stages before the Aces grabbed a 12-8 lead thanks to a Cardona kill along with an ace from Laura Ruiz.  The Braves countered, inching their way back to go up 15-14 when Raeann Bergman picked up a kill.  Three in a row by UE turned the tides once again with Cardona adding a kill and an ace.  After Bradley cut their deficit to 17-16, Evansville posted four points in a row to add some breathing room.  From there, Cardona added two more kills to finish with six in the set and help UE take a 25-17 decision.

Set 2

Bradley had the upper hand throughout the early parts of the second set, padding their lead at 7-4 on a Kora Kauling ace before reestablishing the 3-point edge at 10-7.  With the Braves still leading by an 11-9 tally, Alondra Vazquez took matters into her own hands.  A kill and service ace by the senior tied the score and started what would be a 10-0 rally for Evansville.  Kate Tsironis, Melanie Feliciano and Cardona each registered kills to put the Aces up by a 19-11 tally.  Back-to-back ace from Cardona kept the pressure on as the Aces took a 2-0 match lead on the strength of a 25-15 win.

Set 3

It was all Aces in the third frame with Vazquez continuing her strong match.  She added two kills and an ace to cap off a 7-2 start to the set.  Efficient serving from Rachel Basinski helped her squad extend the advantage to 12-3 before UE clinched the match with an 25-17 win.  The Braves closed in the final stages, but the start by Evansville was too much to overcome.

On Saturday, the Aces are right back inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse to face Illinois State at 5 p.m.