Aces set for three matches in four days
  Sitting at 9-2, the University of Evansville volleyball team sits atop the Missouri Valley Conference entering the opening week of league play
– The Aces open up on Friday at UNI before heading to Drake Saturday and hosting Illinois State on Monday
Weekend Recap
– Evansville went 3-0 in its second-consecutive tournament en route to another championship
– The Aces swept the Skyhawk Invitational with a 3-1 win over UT Martin, a 3-0 triumph over Little Rock and a hard-fought 3-1 decision against Mercer
– Rachel Tam was named the MVP of the tournament while Melanie Feliciano and Allana McInnis were on the All-Tournament Team
– Evansville opened the week with a 3-2 home victory over Tennessee Tech where Tam set the school record with 39 kills; her tally is second all-time in conference history
Top of the Valley
– With 13.35 assists and 14.30 kills per set, Evansville leads the MVC; those numbers put UE 16th in the nation in both stats
– Evansville ranks third in the league in digs (16.93/set) and hitting percentage (.213)
– On the individual side, Allana McInnis continues to pace the conference with 11.09 assists
– Hannah Watkins remains second in the Valley with 1.12 blocks per set while Gabriela Macedo is second in the league in digs (4.86/set) and service aces (0.42/set)
– Feliciano and Tam rank second and third in kills
Record Breaker
– Rachel Tam had one of the best games in MVC history registering 39 kills in the win over Tennessee Tech on Sept. 17 and followed that up with an MVP performance at the Skyhawk Invitational on her way to being named the MVC Player of the Week
– Her total set the Evansville program record was second in conference history, just one off of the all-time mark
– Tam’s 39 kills is second-most for any NCAA Division I player in 2019
– Now averaging 4.60 kills/set, Tam is third in the MVC; she has had at least seven kills in all 11 matches in 2019
– On her way to the MVP honor in Martin, Tenn., Tam recorded 6.09 kills per set with her top match coming against the Skyhawks where she had 35 kills
– Her 35-kill final marked the top UE total in a 4-set match
A Helping Hand
– Junior Allana McInnis sits atop the MVC with 11.09 assists per set and is in the top 20 in the country
– McInnis has averaged 10+ assists in each of the last eight matches – all Evansville victories
– The top two contests of her career saw her post 65 helpers against Eastern Illinois before recording 64 in the win over Tennessee Tech
– She has recorded at least 29 assists in ten out of the 11 matches in 2019
– McInnis posted 22 or more assists in each of the last 14 matches of 2018 and has done so 10 out of 11 times in 2019
Scouting the Opposition
– UNI enters conference play with a 6-8 record, but seven of those eight losses came against Power 5 schools and the BIg East
– Karlie Taylor is near the top of the league with 4.73 kills per set and also chips in 3.19 digs per game
– Rachel Koop averages 10.4 assists per game and has 542 on the season
– Drake starts the weekend with a 6-7 record but halted a 5-match skid last weekend with a 3-2 win over North Carolina A&T
– Haley Bush paces the Bulldogs with 3.81 kills per game with Emily Plock just behind at 3.13
– Their defense is led by Paige Aspinwall’s 6.36 digs per game
– Illinois State starts their MVC slate with a 7-5 mark
– The Redbirds are led by Maylee Martin’s 3.86 kills and 10.22 assists per set from Stef Jankiewicz
– They open MVC action against Missouri State and SIU before coming to Evansville on Monday
