Aces to play on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.
 It is back to the Carson Center for the University of Evansville volleyball team as they return home following a 3-week road trip that wrapped up last weekend with road contests at UNI and Drake. Evansville faces Bradley on Friday before welcoming Loyola to the Carson Center on Saturday. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. and will be featured on The Valley on ESPN3.
Saturday’s match against the Bulldogs was an offensive explosion for Mildrelis Rodriguez and Rocio Fortuny as Rodriguez set her career mark with 21 kills while Fortuny tied her top effort at UE with 17. Rachel Tam also checked in with her high of five block assists while Joselyn Coronel assisted on a career-high 32 shots.
Rodriguez set her career-high with 21 kills in 52 attempts last Saturday. She hit a solid .308 and also posted 12 digs. She has notched at least eight kills in seven of the last eight matches and continues to pace the squad with 2.91 per set. The sophomore comes into this weekend with an even 250 kills on the season. The Purple Aces have depended on her efforts to keep the offense rolling as she has notched at least 24 attempts in each MVC match in 2016.
Fortuny had her shot going against Drake, notching 17 kills last time out. It tied her career-high, which came earlier this year in the home meeting against the Bulldogs. Fortuny ranks second on the team behind fellow sophomore Mildrelis Rodriguez with 2.11 kills per set. She has also done well on the defensive side with 0.39 blocks per set.
A week after setting her collegiate mark with four kills at Southern Illinois, Joselyn Coronel set a career-high in assists with 32 versus the Bulldogs. It marked the third time this season she has posted at least 20 helpers. Splitting time at the position with Jelena Merseli, Coronel has averaged 2.96 assists per game.
Bradley will mark the first match of the weekend as the Aces and Braves play at 7 p.m. on Friday. The Braves come to the Carson Center with a 7-15 overall mark and are 2-9 in MVC play. Erica Haslag has had a strong sophomore season for the Braves and ranks fourth in the league with 3.44 kills per set. Defensively, Abby Ihrke ranks fifth in the Valley with 4.07 digs
On Saturday, UE will take on Loyola. The Ramblers enter the weekend with a 10-14 mark and are 5-6 in the conference. They are in sixth place in the league standings as we round the homestretch. Senior Morgan Reardon is third in the MVC with 3.47 kills per game while Delilah Wolf has registered 9.86 assists in her freshman season and stands third in the conference in tha
