UE Volleyball opens weekend with road sweep at SIU

Aces ready for Missouri State on Saturday

In the first stretch of a weekend road trip, the University of Evansville volleyball team picked up a huge victory over Southern Illinois, earning a 3-0 win over the Salukis on Friday evening.

“The girls showed a lot of heart staying in the game and winning the close sets; that gave us the confidents to start strong in the third set,” UE coach Fernando Morales said.  “After losing the last two games, we really needed this win for our confidence.  I think we were putting too much pressure on ourselves and hopefully this win takes that away.”

Evansville’s (13-5, 4-3 MVC) offense was led by a 16-kill match from senior Rachel Tam.  Alondra Vazquez finished the night with 14 while Melanie Feliciano added 10.  Allana McInnis recorded 39 assists while Hannah Watkins added six blocks. Vazquez posted a team-high 18 digs while Gabriela Macedo had 16.

Hannah Becker was the top performer for the Salukis (10-11, 2-5 MVC), notching 12 kills.  Rachel Maguire tied for the match-high with 18 digs.  Alayna Martin added 16.

UE took a 5-2 lead in the first set with Gabriela Macedo registering a leadoff service ace to get the team going.  Southern Illinois rallied right back and took their first lead at 9-7.  The Aces answered with a 6-1 stretch when Vazquez posted consecutive kills that helped Evansville go up by a 13-10 score.  Midway through the set, the Salukis looked like they were in control when an error by the Aces gave SIU a 20-17 edge.

Southern Illinois was on the brink of a win as they continued to hold a 24-22 lead.  That is when Evansville turned the tides thanks to some pinpoint serving.  Following an SIU service error, Elena Redmond had an ace that tied it up at 24-24.  With the score knotted at 25-all, a kill by Vazquez brought up Laura Ruiz to serve.  She had the clinching point on an ace of her own to finalize a 27-25.

In game two, SIU reeled off the first three points before the Aces began to inch their way back.  Another kill by Vazquez helped UE tie it up for the first time at 6-6.  Things continued to be close before the Aces made a late rally and looked to be on the verge of a win.  With the score tied at 18-18, UE scored the next four as Tam had a kill while SIU committed three errors.  Southern Illinois never gave up and battled back to tie it at 24-24.  The teams went back and forth before Vazquez helped UE take the lead for good.  Her kill made it a 28-27 lead before an SIU error helped the Aces take a 2-0 match lead with a 29-27 win.

Evansville put its best foot forward to begin the third frame, scoring the first four points before jumping out to a 16-5 advantage.  Macedo had another ace in the opening moments before Feliciano recorded her first ace of the night to give UE a 9-2 lead.  A pair of Saluki errors marked the final two points of the run.  Despite trailing by 11, SIU made a comeback attempt, getting within three points at 20-17 before the Aces clinched the match with a 25-18 victory.