UIC vs. UE Box Score
Arizona vs. UE Box Score
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Katie Klages and Lauren Seyller were named to the Dunn Hospitality Invitational All-Tournament Team as the Purple Aces wrapped up the tournament with a 2-1 mark.
In Saturday morning’s opening match, Evansville rallied for a 3-2 win over the University of Illinois-Chicago before falling to Arizona, 3-1, to finish the event in second place and improve to 9-3 on the season.
Seyller led the Aces with 44 kills in the tournament, registering an impressive .281 attack percentage while Klages finished the event with a team-high 77 digs. Brooke Maher was second on the team with 52 digs and 40 kills. Kaisi Nixon finished the home-opening tourney with 33 kills.
The Aces rallied for another exciting five-set victory to begin the day over UIC. Evansville played a solid first set, winning 25-22, before the Flames came back with 25-21 and 25-20 victories to take a 2-1 lead.
Evansville sent the game to a fifth set on the strength of a 25-16 win in game four. With the score tied at 10-10, UE finished the game on a 15-6 run to advance to the final set.
Kaisi Nixon got the Aces started with a kill as the Aces scored the first three tallies of the final game. They would never look back, cruising to a 15-12 victory. Maher and Seyller each contributed 19 kills while Nixon recorded 13. Klages led all with 31 digs while Ellen Sawin came in with 54 assists.
Saturday evening’s match against Arizona saw the Wildcats jump out to a quick 2-0 lead on the strength of a 25-17 and 25-16 win. With their backs against the wall, the Lady Aces came through in set four, winning a hard-fought 25-23 decision. UE notched the first three points and never gave up the lead over the remainder to mark the only squad over the weekend to deal the Wildcats a loss in a set.
Arizona regrouped in the fourth set to clinch the match and the tournament with a 25-19 victory. Madison Kingdon led UA with 16 kills.
Kingdon led a trio of Wildcats on the All-Tournament Team. Joining her was Cursty Jackson and Courtney Karst. Julie Shives of Southeast Missouri State and Kelsey Safranek of UIC were also named to the team.
A trip to Belmont will mark the next action for UE when they travel to Nashville, Tenn. on Tuesday. Missouri Valley Conference play opens next weekend when UE travels to Bradley on Friday before facing powerhouse Northern Iowa on Saturday.
