MVC Championship opens Sunday in Evansville

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Aces take on Bradley in tournament opener

 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Playing host to the Missouri Valley Conference Championship for the first time in school history, the University of Evansville volleyball team will open the championship on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.  As the No. 5 seed, UE will take on 8th-seeded Bradley on ESPN+.

Record-Breaking Season

– A 3-1 win over Indiana State in the regular-season finale was the 11th MVC victory of the season for UE

– That total is the most for the program since joining the league in 1994

– Prior to this season, the only year the Aces were over .500 was 2000 when UE was 10-8

First to 500 

– On November 15, Giulia Cardona became the first player in program history to record 500 kills in a single season

– Her 24-kill performance pushed her season total to 508, which bested Alondra Vazquez’ record of 494 from last season

– On Nov. 5, Cardona had her top career match with 25 kills, besting her previous total by one

– In the road trip to Missouri State and SIU, Cardona averaged 5.50 kills per set

– For the season, Cardona is second in the MVC with her 4.23 kills average while her total of 1,414 attacks is 3rd-highest in the NCAA and is just 21 away from tying Alondra Vazquez’ record of 1,435

– Defensively, Cardona has shown great improvement, chipping in an average of 2.56 digs per set over the last 21 matches (207 digs in the last 81 sets)

Making History 

– On Oct. 22 against Drake, Alondra Vazquez became the all-time program kills leader, breaking Jessica Kiefer’s record of 1,706

– Her current total of 1,864 kills is 4th in MVC history

1) 2,293           Lily Johnson, Missouri State, 2014-17

2) 1,948           Lindsay Stalzer, Bradley, 2002-05

3) 1,919           Michelle Witzke, Missouri State, 1994-97

4) 1,864           Alondra Vazquez, Evansville, 2018-

5) 1,779           Molly O’Brien, UNI, 2000-03

– Earlier this season, Vazquez moved past Julie Groves for the most attempts in program history and now has 5,351 with Groves’ mark of 4,401 ranking second…Vazquez’ total is second in MVC history

1) 6,610           Lily Johnson, Missouri State, 2014-17

2) 5,351           Alondra Vazquez, Evansville, 2018-

3) 5,060           Erica Haslag, Bradley, 2015-18

4) 4,944           Michelle Witzke, Missouri State, 1994-97

5) 4,914           Ashley Rosch, Illinois State, 2012-15

– Vazquez also moved into the top ten in career digs with 1,526…she is currently 5th

Top Four 

– With 1,232 assists in her freshman campaign, Kora Ruff ranks fourth in the nation and second among all freshmen

– Her average of 10.27 per set ranks fourth in the MVC but her efforts in the last 13 matches has been lights out – she has recorded 11.28 assists per set over that time

– She was named the MVC Freshman of the Week on Oct. 31 following the road victories at Valpo and UIC where she averaged 11.75 assists, 3.00 digs and 0.63 service aces

– She reached 50 assists in a match for the first time on Sept. 30 at Belmont and has now reached the mark on five occasions

 

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