UE gives it their all in five sets
 In the final match of the regular season, the University of Evansville volleyball team put forth another great effort, but Drake was able to clinch the match in five sets on Saturday evening inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
Leading the Purple Aces (10-21, 4-14 MVC) was Rachel Tam, who had 20 kills. Alondra Vazquez finished the night with 14 while Mildrelis Rodriguez checked in with 11. Rodriguez anchored the defense with 20 digs while Vazquez posted 19. Tam had 17 digs while Allana McInnis and Olivia Goldstein notched 13 and 11, respectively. McInnis led UE with 47 assists. Drake (20-13, 8-10 MVC) saw Cathryn Cheek post 18 kills and 17 digs.
Drake was fast out of the gate, jumping out to a 5-1 advantage in game one. They added to it, leading by as many as eight points at 13-5. That is when Olivia Goldstein led UE on a rally. She had two service aces in a 6-0 run that cut the deficit to a pair. Evansville’s rally continued as Allana McInnis added an ace of her own to tie it at 15-15. Senior Mildrelis Rodriguez notched her fifth kill of the set to put the Aces in front at 19-15 in what was a 14-2 run. Drake never gave up as they knotted the score at 23-23 before finishing with a 25-23 win.
Alondra Vazquez had four kills to push the Aces to a 4-4 tie in game two, but the Bulldogs came back with a 6-1 run to go up 10-5. Rodriguez notched an ace to cut the deficit to a pair (12-10) before the Bulldogs pushed back again, scoring eight in a row to go up 20-10. While Evansville was able to cut into the DU lead, the Bulldogs won by a score of 25-18.
Rodriguez registered her second service ace of the evening to give the Purple Aces a 2-0 lead in game three and Rachel Tam added a pair of kills to push the gap to 7-3. A pair of block assists by Tam and Rocio Fortuny extended the lead before the Aces won by a 25-15 final. Kerra Cornist added a solo block in the win.
UE kept its momentum going, reeling off the first three points in the fourth frame before the Bulldogs tied it up at 7-7. Evansville wrestled the lead back to 19-14, but Drake did not relent as they score the next six tallies to go up 20-19. Kills by Fortuny and Rodriguez pushed the Aces to five in a row and a 25-21 victory to force a game five.
The Aces got off to another good start in the fifth stanza when two Tam kills and an ace by Elena Redmond gave the team at 4-1 edge. Drake stormed back to tie it up for the first time at 6-6. Their rally continued as they went up by a score of 11-7. Both teams left it all on the floor and that continued when Evansville posted the next three to make it an 11-10 game. In the end, the Bulldogs were able to fend off the challenge and take the match with a 15-13 triumph in the fifth set.
Prior to the match, the Aces recognized a senior class that included Olivia Goldstein, Mildrelis Rodriguez, Rocio Fortuny, Joselyn Coronel, Elizabeth Giller and Gabriela dos Santos.
