EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s volleyball team will play host to the Dunn Hospitality Invitational on Friday and Saturday at the Carson Center.
Along with the Aces, the University of Arizona, Southeast Missouri State and the University of Illinois-Chicago will be making the trek to Evansville.
The action begins at 4 p.m. Friday when UE will host Southeast Missouri State. At 6:30 p.m., Arizona and UIC will square off. Four matches will take place on Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. when the Aces will take on UIC. At Noon, SEMO will take on Arizona before facing UIC at 3 p.m. At 5 p.m., a match pitting Evansville against Arizona will wrap up the event. All times may be pushed back pending the length of earlier matches.
“I think this is the most competitive field for our tournament in some time,” UE head coach Mike Swan said. “Three of the four teams have winning records at this point of the season and to draw a team like Arizona from the Pac 12 is huge for our program.”
Evansville has had a successful start to the year, going 7-2 to open things up. The Aces took the UNC Greensboro Tournament two weeks ago, going a perfect 4-0. Following a 2-2 showing at the Marriott Volley Brawl in Valparaiso last weekend, UE swept past Murray State on Tuesday.
Senior Brooke Maher has garnered a pair of honors in the opening part of the year. She was named the Tournament MVP in Greensboro before nabbing All-Tournament honors last weekend in Valparaiso.
Southeast Missouri State struggled to an 0-5 mark to begin the season, but has showed some fight as of late, winning its last two matches. The Redhawks took a 3-1 desicion over Buffalo before edging Youngstown State, 3-2, in last week’s Indiana University Tournament. Paige Dossey and Karlee Lurson were named to the All-Tournament Team.
UIC began the season on a 5-match winning streak before falling to Northwestern by a 3-1 tally last time out. The Flames went a perfect 3-0 at the CEFCU Classic on opening weekend before topping DePaul and Montana State last weekend. UIC is led by Kelsey Safranek, who sits atop her squad with 84 kills.
Arizona puts its 5-1 mark to the test this weekend in Evansville. The Wildcats are receiving votes in this week’s AVCA Poll and their only loss of the year came to No. 12 Hawaii. In last weekend’s Wildcat Classic, they won nine out of ten sets with victories coming over Presbyterian, Cal State Fullerton and Eastern Washington. Cursty Jackson was named the MVP of the tournament, recording 28 kills and 12 blocks.
“We know we need to terminate on swings at the net and improve on our blocking as we near MVC play next weekend,” Swan continued. “The team is excited to play at home for the first time this fall and we are hopeful that our fans will create a great environment in Carson Center like we do each year.”
Following this weekend’s action, the Aces will face Belmont on Tuesday in their final non-conference tune-up before opening MVC play at Bradley on Friday, Sept. 16.
