U Of E Â Men’s Volleyball Picks Up First Win Of The Season On Opening Day
UE Earns Split At Redhawks Invitational
 CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Opening day was a successful one for the University of Evansville volleyball team as the Purple Aces earned a split in contests against Western Illinois and Jackson State.
The Purple Aces fought to the finish in the opener against the Leathernecks, dropping a 3-2 match, but rebounded in a big way, taking a 3-0 victory over Jackson State in Friday’s finale. It marked the first Division I win for Aces interim head coach Fernando Morales, who was proud of the way his squad performed.
“We had a great day overall. In the first game, we had a few chances to win, but overall, it was a nice performance,†Morales said. “We are happy about earning our first win of the season in the second match. We know we have things to improve on and the girls are working really hard towards that.â€
After a hard-fought loss to open the day, the Aces came out poised and ready to pick up a win against JSU. Alondra Vazquez did her best to make sure that happened, leading all players with 16 kills. Rachel Tam posted nine. Cecilia Thon and Allana McInnis has 17 assists apiece while Melanie Feliciano had a strong effort with 13 digs and three service aces. Fellow freshman Hannah Watkins contributed six block assists in the winning effort.
Game one saw Evansville make a huge rally at the midway point. The Tigers jumped out to a 10-6 lead before UE turned the tables. A 13-2 run saw the Aces take what would be an insurmountable 19-12 lead. Feliciano played a pivotal role in the rally; with UE down 10-7, her precise serving sent the Aces on a 9-0 run. Vazquez had three kills in a row at one point and a total of four in the rally. UE kept the foot on the gas and took a 25-18 win.
Jackson State provided another threat in game two. With the score knotted at 12-12, the Tigers scored five straight to open up a 17-12 lead. The Aces never relented and fought back to tie it up at 20-20 before continuing what would be an 8-0 stretch to go up 24-20. Feliciano was the server once again in the rally and had back-to-back aces. Vazquez added the final kill in what was a 25-21 UE win.
Evansville fended off another challenge in the third frame to earn the win. JSU turned a 12-12 score into a 16-13 lead. The Aces came back to tie it at 17-all before six ties led to a 22-22 score. That is when a few timely defensive plays came in handy. UE forced a pair of errors to go up 24-22. Following a Tiger point, Feliciano had the clinching kill in a 25-23 victory.
Friday’s opener saw Rachel Tam post 21 kills with Melanie Feliciano tallying 19 as Western Illinois dealt UE a 3-2 defeat. Alondra Vazquez and Patricia Joseph checked in with 11 and 9 kills, respectively. Allana McInnis tallied 45 assists while Gabriela Macedo posted 22 digs. It was her first action since the season-opening weekend of 2018. Feliciano posted a double-double with 14 digs of her own.
Western Illinois jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the opening frame, but Evansville came right back with an 8-0 run. Allana McInnis provided flawless serving while adding an ace and kill in the rally. The Leathernecks cut the gap to as little as two points at 16-14, but the Aces never let them get closer. Up 21-18, UE finished on a 4-2 stretch to take a 25-20 win. Rachel Tam had six kills in the set while Melanie Feliciano had five. Chloe Bontrager ended the set with a kill of her own with Elena Redmond providing the assist.
Evansville carried its momentum into the second game. Up 11-10, the Aces reeled off six in a row to extend their advantage to 17-10. Feliciano provided three consecutive kills in the rally. Western Illinois pushed back and cut the deficit to 21-20. After UE pushed its lead back to a pair, the Leathernecks posted the final five points of the set to finish with a 25-22 win.
A nice stretch opened game three for UE as they jumped out to a 6-2 advantage. Alondra Vazquez had an ace and kill. WIU posted four in a row to tie the score at 6-6. Nine ties led to a 15-15 score before a UE error gave the Leathernecks the lead. Another kill by Vazquez turned the tides as the Aces scored the next eight points to go up 23-16. Following a Western Illinois tally, Patricia Joseph registered back-to-back kills to clinch the third set, 25-17.
WIU had the advantage early in the fourth set, opening up an 8-5 lead. Evansville responded with three in a row to tie it up, but the Leathernecks were able to push their lead up to seven points – 19-12 and finished with a 25-18 win. In the fifth game, Evansville led by a 10-8 score, but a late rally saw the Leathernecks clinch the match with a 15-12 decision in the decisive set.
Tomorrow, the Aces wrap up the opening weekend with a 2 p.m. contest against host Southeast Missouri State.
