PEORIA, Ill. – The University of Evansville volleyball team made it two in a row with a 3-1 win over Bradley on Friday night.  Behind an impressive defensive performance and a record tying 10 block assists from senior Danielle Diehl, the Aces won the match with scores of 23-30, 30-23, 30-26 and 30-24. 

“This win puts us over the .500 mark once again,” head coach Mike Swan said.  “It was good to get another win under our belt.  I hope this can give us some confidence heading into Northern Iowa tomorrow.  We played sloppy in the first game, but rebounded well to win the last three.”

The first game was the only low point of the night for UE as Bradley took a lead early and never relinquished it to take the win 30-23.  In game two, the Aces jumped out to a 10-5 lead, but the Braves pulled even midway through the match tying the game at 14-14.  Back to back kills from senior Megan Spurlock after the tie set the tone for the rest of the match, and UE took game two 30-23.

The Aces had nine block assists in game three to take the win 30-26.  Sophomore Ginta Gabruseva stepped up her play in game four finishing with nine kills in the game to hit for a .727 percentage and propelled UE to the 30-24 win.

As a team, UE finished with a season high 25 block assists highlighted by Diehl’s 10.  That mark ties an Aces record for most individual block assists in a match.  Spurlock added seven block assists of her own to help the cause.  Senior Julie Walroth had 28 digs for the match.  On the offensive side, the Aces had a season high nine service aces as a team with freshman Viera Rajcan leading the way with three.  Gabruseva finished with a team best 17 kills hitting .378, and junior Sally Kulupka added 14 kills.

UE will step back on the court on Saturday night when the team travels to Northern Iowa to battle the Panthers.  The match will begin at 7:30 PM.