UE Heads To Cedar Falls Next Week
With the results of the other Missouri Valley Conference matches on Friday evening, the University of Evansville volleyball team has officially clinched a berth in next week’s conference tournament.
Evansville will finish in the top six and head to the tournament for the first time since the 2008 campaign.
“The girls have done so much for the program this year,†Aces head coach Fernando Morales said. “They deserved this. I am so happy and proud of them and excited about the future of this program.â€
The Aces (16-12, 7-10 MVC) dropped a 3-0 decision on the road at Bradley (14-14, 10-7 MVC) on Friday. Rachel Tam led UE with 10 kills while Alondra Vazquez finished with nine. Gabriela Macedo finished with 18 digs and officially holds the single-season program record. Allana McInnis had 21 assists. The Braves were led by a 15-kill effort from Hannah Thompson.
Bradley got the evening started on a strong note, taking a 25-14 win. Up 6-5, the Braves scored six of the next seven to take a 12-6 lead. From there, they continued to add to it before winning by 11.
Evansville regrouped and had a much better start to the second frame, taking a 7-1 lead. After notching three kills in the first set, Chloe Bontrager added her fourth before Rachel Tam had three in a row. The Braves pushed back with five in a row to get within one, but the Aces continued to hold the lead until late in the match. Bradley was finally able to tie it at 19-19 before taking a 2-0 lead on the strength of a 25-21 win.
In the third set, the Braves scored six of the opening seven points and would go on to take a 25-16 win to clinch the 3-0 match.
Tomorrow, the regular season comes to an end with a 5 p.m. match at Illinois State.
