NIVC Quarterfinals set for Monday evening

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Aces face Valparaiso at 7 p.m.

 VALPARAISO, Ind. – Postseason play continues for the University of Evansville volleyball team as they take on Valparaiso in the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Invitational Volleyball Championship on Monday evening at 7 p.m.  Live coverage of the match will be on ESPN+.

 Making History?

– A pair of single-season records are on the verge of being broken for UE

– With 484 kills in the fall, Alondra Vazquez is just nine kills away from tying the single season record of 493, which was set by Genesis Miranda in 2015…ten more will break the mark

– Giulia Cardona has 456 kills on the season, which tied Melanie Feliciano’s freshman record from 2019…one more will give Cardona the record and put her 4th on the all-time UE single-season list

 

Recapping rounds 1 & 2

– Sam Houston marked the opening-round opponent for UE in its inaugural trip to the NIVC on Thursday

– Behind 21 kills by Giulia Cardona and 18 from Alondra Vazquez, the Aces earned a 3-0 win

– Friday’s second round saw UE face MVC foe Bradley where Cardona set a new career mark with 23 kills in a 3-1 victory

– Melanie Feliciano and Vazquez had 15 kills each while Taya Haffner had 53 assists

– Blakeley Freeman notched 23 kills, the top tally of her freshman career

 

Finishing Strong

– Over her last five matches, Blakeley Freeman is averaging 4.05 digs per set, including a new career high of 23 in the NIVC contest versus Bradley

– The recent streak has seen her season average jump to 2.73 per set, which is second on the team

– Freeman came in off the bench to contribute 8 digs in the Aces first-ever road win at UNI

 

Freshman of the Year

– Giulia Cardona became the first player in program history to earn one of the MVC specialty awards when she was named the 2021 MVC Freshman of the Year

– In one of the top freshman campaigns in program history, Cardona leads the MVC with 0.51 service aces per set, a stat ranks 11th in the nation and is the best average among all freshmen

– Over the last 51 sets of work, freshman Giulia Cardona has recorded a total of 32 service aces, an average of 0.627 per set…her numbers have jumped even higher in the NIVC with 0.857/set

– She is currently on an offensive streak that has seen her record at least 10 kills in each of the last 19 matches while raising her season average to 4.00 per set

– Cardona set a new career record with 23 kills against Bradley in the NIVC

 

All-MVC First Team

– For the second year in a row, Alondra Vazquez was named to the All-MVC First Team after leading the league with 4.25 kills per set

– She has been on an absolute roll over the last eight matches, finishing with at least 14 kills in each contest while averaging 4.75 per set

– Vazquez remains on top of the MVC list with 4.25 kills/set while pacing the league in points (4.89/set)…defensively, Vazquez leads her squad with 2.82 digs per frame, 15th in the Valley…she has had 9 or more kills in all but two matches in the fall

– Nationally, Vazquez is 30th in kills average