EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville volleyball squad fell to the Illinois State Redbirds in a tough match in five games 3-2 on Saturday night.  The Redbirds snapped the Aces six-match win streak, battling back from a 2-0 deficit.  UE drops to 8-5 overall and 1-1 in the young conference season.  Illinois State wins its tenth game of the year and is a perfect 2-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play.

In game one, UE played solid volleyball to win 30-24.  The Aces hit for a .277 percentage as a team led by senior Megan Spurlock’s seven kills.  Freshman Emily Wandersee finished the game with five kills on seven attempts to finish with a .714 hitting percentage. 

The Aces came out playing well again in game two.  Led by six more kills from Wandersee, UE took the game 30-26 before heading to the break.  UE hit for a .240 percentage to Illinois State’s .120 in the game.  Spurlock added five more kills to her total in game two and hit for a .455 percentage.

The tide began to turn in game three as the Redbirds facing defeat won the game 30-24.  UE’s offense was slowed as the Aces only managed to knock down 13 kills to ISU’s 19. 

Illinois State's game three momentum carried over to game four.  The Aces led early at 5-4 after a service ace from senior Elaine Walroth.  The lead was short lived and UE would not see the lead again.  Illinois State won the game 30-25.

With things evened up at two games apiece, Illinois State showed poise and came out with another strong effort to take the deciding game five 15-10.

Both teams combined for 225 digs for the game.  Illinois State finished with 116 and UE had 109.  Senior Julie Walroth tied a school record for most digs in a match, finishing with 37.  The record was set in 2001 by Samantha Butler.   

Spurlock led the offense and finished with 22 kills on the night.  Wandersee had 16 kills for the match on 35 attempts, she had four errors to finish with a .343 hitting percentage. 

UE will face its first road test in MVC play with a match on Friday at Southern Illinois.  That match is set to start at 7:00 PM.