This weekend, the Purple Aces volleyball team will complete its home slate with a pair of conference matches against Indiana State and Illinois State.
Friday evening’s match against the Sycamores is set for a 7 p.m. start while Senior Day on Saturday will begin at 6 p.m. with the festivities beginning shortly before. Prior to the match, the five seniors on the UE squad will be honored – Kim Deprez, Stephanie Cerino, Lorena Marquez, Tathianna Cordero and Gabriela Roman.
The two weekend matches will also mark the first in-house telecasts for “The Valley on ESPN3†as each will be televised live.
With Genesis Miranda out due to injury, Mildrelis Rodriguez paced the offense to the tune of 12 kills against Southern Illinois. It was the first time in her last eight matches that she recorded double figure kills. The last time she did came in the home match against SIU when she notched 14 kills.
With 41 attempts against Missouri State last week, Genesis Miranda set the UE program single-season record with 1,272. It broke the record previous held by Julie Groves, who registered 1,256 attempts in 1998. Miranda is on the cusp of breaking another one of Groves’ marks – her season record for kills. Miranda sits with 444 on the season, just 10 behind Groves mark of 454 from ‘98.
Indiana State comes into the weekend with a 16-15 overall record and are 5-10 in the MVC. They are tied for 7th place in the league with Drake.   Bree Spengler has notched 0.33 service aces per frame and ranks third in the conference. She also paces the Sycamore offense with 2.66 kills per set. Carly Winslow ranks tenth in the league, hitting .295 on the year.
Coming into the weekend, Illinois State is solidly in the MVC Tournament with a 10-5 record and stand at 20-8 overall. They are in third place in the conference. Jaelyn Keene is the top hitter in the Valley, standing at .433. Her tally is 0.23 ahead of her nearest competition. With 3.79 kills per set, Ashley Rosch ranks third in the conference. She has posted a total of 398 on the season.
