Aces travel to Murray State and Belmont
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Missouri Valley Conference play opens this weekend with the University of Evansville volleyball team traveling to Murray State and Belmont. Friday’s match against the Racers is set for a 6 p.m. start while the Purple Aces’ contest in Nashville versus the Bruins is set for 5 p.m. on Saturday; ESPN+ will carry both contests.
Top 5 in the NCAA
– Giulia Cardona continues to rank in the top five nationally in multiple offensive categories
– With 6.14 points per set, Cardona is best in the nation while her 13.75 attacks/set is second and her average of 5.25 kills/game ranks third in the NCAA
– In the final two matches of the DePaul Invitational, Cardona averaged 6.7 kills per frame as she recorded 24 against Northern Illinois and 23 versus DePaul
– One of the top servers in the nation, Cardona paces the MVC and is 13th in the NCAA with 0.61 aces per frame
Last Time Out
– Facing nationally ranked Tennessee last Friday, the Aces put forth a strong effort before dropping the match by a 3-0 final
– Evansville held a late 22-18 lead in the third set before a huge run by the Volunteers helped them clinch the match
– Melanie Feliciano had 10 kills in the contest while Giulia Cardona picked up 8 kills and 8 digs; Kora Ruff finished with 27 assists
Back to Form
– Melanie Feliciano put together her best weekend of the season at the DePaul Invitational
– Against DePaul, Feliciano set her season high with 22 kills and has at least 9 kills in 9 of Evansville’s 10 matches while ranking 7th in the MVC with 3.56 kills per set
– Defensively, Feliciano has chipped in 11 digs in four of the last six matches; her average of 2.69 per set is second on the team
Still Going Strong
– Kora Ruff briefly held the conference assist lead and enters the league slate ranked third with 10.77 helpers per game
– That average puts her 17th nationally
– Her serving has also been an asset to the Aces – with 0.40 aces per set, she is 5th in the Valley
– In the final two contests of the DePaul Invitational, Ruff averaged an unreal 14.57 assists including a season-high of 54 against Northern Illinois
– On the defensive side, Ruff set a new career mark with 18 digs against North Alabama and is 19th in the league with 2.63 per set
Scouting the Opposition
– Murray State enters Friday’s league opener with a 6-3 record
– They wrapped up last weekend with a 3-0 sweep over Georgia State after falling to Eastern Kentucky and Chattanooga in the first two matches of the weekend
– Dahlia Miller is one of the top defensive players in the MVC, pacing the league with 5.80 digs per set
– Standing at 6-8, Belmont dropped a 3-0 match to Lipscomb on Tuesday, ending a 2-match win streak
– Ally Peterson leads the way with 2.51 kills per set
