Aces play hard until the end
In another match that went down to the wire, the University of Evansville volleyball team fell to UNI by a 3-2 final on Saturday night inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
Evansville (14-7, 5-5 MVC) took the opening two frames before the Panthers (16-9, 10-1 MVC) stormed back to take the final three sets. Alondra Vazquez was the top performer for UE, posting a double-double with 20 kills and 14 digs. Melanie Feliciano added 19 kills and senior Rachel Tam finished the night with 19. Allana McInnis tallied 53 assists while Gabriela Macedo had 21 digs. Karlie Taylor posted 22 kills for the Panthers while Rachel Koop had 61 assists.
Evansville began with a nice spurt in the early-going. With the score tied at 4-4, UE posted the next five points as Melanie Feliciano got it started with a kill before the defense forced three Panther errors in a row. The lead grew to as many as six points at 12-6 with Patricia Joseph adding a kill. UNI made its first big run, registering the next four before tying it at 13-13. The Aces were able to retake the lead and extend back to three tallies at 19-16 when Feliciano notched her third kill of the set. UNI battled back to tie it at 22-22, but Alondra Vazquez took over, posting a kill and an ace before Feliciano had the clincher in a 25-23 win and a 1-0 lead.
Vazquez helped the Aces jump out to another early lead, recording two kills to give UE a 5-1 edge. Evansville kept the pressure on, forcing three Panther errors that made it a 10-2 game. From there, the Aces were able to add to the lead and win by a 25-14 final. Vazquez finished the six kills in the set.
UNI regrouped and opened game three on a 4-1 stretch and was able to hang tough in the set, going up by a 17-10 tally before picking up their first set of the night with a 25-18 victory. After the Aces posted the first two points of the fourth set, UNI scored the next three to take their first lead. The Panthers held three 2-point leads before wrestling away a 16-12 advantage. They went on to lead by as many as nine before winning by that deficit at 25-16 to force a fifth set.
In the fifth set, the Panthers had the early advantage, opening up a 3-1 lead and went up by five points at 13-8. UE had one final rally left with kills by Vazquez and Tam cutting the deficit to three. An error got the Aces within a pair before the Panthers settled back in and won by a 15-12 score to clinch the match.
Up next for Evansville is a road trip north to Loyola and Valparaiso. The Aces are in Chicago to play the Ramblers on Friday at 6 p.m. before heading to Valpo on Saturday for a 5 p.m. contest.
