EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The doors officially open to Meeks Family Fieldhouse this weekend as the University of Evansville volleyball team will host the Dunn Hospitality Invitational this weekend.
Friday night will mark the opener as the Purple Aces welcome Indiana University at 7 p.m. Later in the weekend, UE also hosts UAB and UT Martin. The Valley on ESPN3 will have coverage of the game against the Hoosiers while live stats will be available for all six matches over the weekend. In between sets 2 and 3 of Friday's match, a naming ceremony will take place recognizing the Meeks Family and Lois D. Patton.
Dunn Hospitality Invitational Tournament Central - Match Notes
To guarantee your tickets for Friday's match, please
click here.
A solid start to the year continued for the Purple Aces as they went 2-1 in the Redhawks Invitational hosted by Southeast Missouri State. Evansville topped Arkansas-Pine Bluff (3-0) and Morgan State (3-2) before coming up just short in five frames against SEMO.
2017 marks the seventh Dunn Hospitality Invitational. It has been held annually since 2010 with the exception of 2012. Last year, UE went 1-2 as it finished off the weekend with an impressive victory over Kent State. Overall, the Aces are 12-6 in the event and went a perfect 3-0 in the inaugural tournament in 2010.
Tournament Schedule
Friday September 8
UT Martin vs. UAB - 4:30 p.m.
Evansville vs. Indiana - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday September 9
Indiana vs. UT Martin - 10:00 a.m.
Evansville vs. UAB - 12:30 p.m.
Indiana vs. UAB - 4:00 p.m.
Evansville vs. UT Martin - 6:30 p.m.
Erlicia Griffith and Rachel Tam earned All-Tournament accolades over the weekend in Cape Girardeau. Another nice offensive weekend saw Tam average 3.00 kills per set, recording a total of 39 for the weekend. She started the weekend with 8 against UAPB before upping that to 14 versus Morgan State. Against SEMO, she had an efficient effort, hitting .371 with 17 kills. She also had two block assists on the weekend to go along with 17 digs. For the season, she is averaging 3.20 kills per game, which ranks 8th in the MVC. She has notched 8+ kills in each match in 2017.
A great blocker in her first season of work for the Purple Aces continued that into this year as Erlicia Griffith was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Redhawks Invitational. She posted three solo blocks and 10 block assists in the tournament, notching 1.00 per set. Her average of 1.04 ranks fourth in the MVC. Her top performance was against Morgan State where she had 8 block assists.
Meeks Family Fieldhouse officially opens on Friday night against Indiana University. The Hoosiers are off to a 6-0 start on the season, including wins over George Washington, Hofstra and LIU-Brooklyn last weekend in Washington D.C. Kendall Beerman is off to a strong start for IU, notching 3.76 kills per set in just 17 frames of work. Alexis Parker is just behind with 3.22. Last year, the Aces faced off against the Hoosiers in Bloomington with IU taking a 3-0 win.
Saturday's opener will pit the Aces against UAB. The Blazers, who play in Conference USA, are 3-4 on the season, but went 3-1 in last weekend's tournament in Birmingham. They earned wins over Georgia State, Charleston Southern and Western Illinois while falling to Austin Peay in four sets. Their top offensive weapon is Erika Zembyla, who has recorded 3.38 kills/set.
UT Martin is the final opponent of the weekend for the Aces. The Skyhawks come to town with a 2-5 mark, earning wins earlier this year over Delaware and Louisiana Tech. Jermima Idemudia and Megan Fair enter the week with team-highs of 69 kills apiece. The last meeting between UE and UTM came in 2013 as the Skyhawks earned a 3-2 victory in Martin, Tenn.
- INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville volleyball, log on to the sport page on GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthletics_VB.
- DONATE: For information on giving to UE Athletics or its individual athletics programs, visit the DONATE tab on the top of GoPurpleAces.com.
- TICKETS: To purchase tickets for University of Evansville athletics events, log on to GoPurpleAces.com and click on the TICKETS tab on top of the page
