Genesis Miranda led the way with 14 kills as Missouri State dealt the University of Evansville volleyball team a 3-0 defeat on Monday night at the Carson Center.
Miranda made 41 attempts on the night and hit .220. After notching a career-best over the weekend at Loyola, senior Gabriela Roman had seven more kills on Monday. Lorena Marquez led UE (8-19, 2-11 MVC) with 19 assists while Kim Deprez posted 26 digs.
Lily Johnson had a match-high 21 kills for the Bears (16-9, 7-5 MVC) while Simone House finished the night with 11.
Evansville had the advantage in the first set, taking a 3-1 lead before seeing it grow to 11-6 on a Stephanie Cerino kill. Missouri State quickly battled back and used a 6-1 run to tie it up at 12-12. They took their first lead at 19-18, but the Aces battled back. A Roman kill saw UE go up 22-20. Following a time out, MSU battled back. A Johnson tally set them on a 5-1 run to finish off the set and a 25-23 victory.
Their momentum carred into the second set, but the Aces battled hard early on. Eight ties led to a 9-9 game as Mildrelis Rodriguez had a kill to tie it up. A 3-0 Bear run gave them the lead for good as they would pull away for a 25-17 triumph and a 2-0 lead.
Johnson was the difference in the third frame, registering 10 kills to clinch the match with a 25-23 victory. In the same fashion as the first game, the Aces put up a battle as a Roman kill saw Evansville go up 11-9. After Missouri State took a 15-13 lead, UE rallied to go up by a 22-19 score on three MSU errors. Just as she did all night, Johnson put MSU on her back, spurting a match-ending 5-1 run to clinch the match.
Saturday will see the Aces head back on the road to face Southern Illinois at 7 p.m.
