LYNCHBURG, Va.--For the first time under head coach Mike Swan, the University of Evansville volleyball team won a tournament championship.  The Aces defeated Howard 3-0 and Liberty 3-1 on Saturday afternoon to be crowned winners of the Liberty Invitational Presented by Pepsi.  Sophomore Ginta Gabruseva and senior Julie Walroth were named to the All-Tournament team.

"This is what we have been working for," Swan said.  "We wanted to have some success early in the season and get the girls excited and believing in themselves.  It was great to come back after a tough loss on Friday.  We dominated at the net and it was great to work with different lineups to see what everyone can do."

In the first match of the afternoon, the Aces came out firing in game one and defeated Howard 30-10.  Gabruseva had three service Aces in the game.  There was no let down in game two as UE finished the game on a 12-3 run to take the win 30-15.  Gabruseva once again played well putting down six kills with a .417 hitting percentage. 

In game three, the Bison played neck and neck with the Aces midway through the match as the score was locked at 18.  However, UE showed some poise by outscoring Howard 12-1 to end the match winning the game 30-19.  The Aces scored the final six points of the game with great offensive teamwork getting kills from freshman Emily Wandersee, senior Danielle Diehl, junior Sally Kulupka and junior Emily Whitney.  The win over Howard was a total team effort as every player on the UE roster saw action during the match.  

The Aces then faced off against tournament host Liberty.  UE scored six straight early points in game one to take a 7-2 lead behind kills from Diehl, Spurlock and Wandersee.  The Aces eventually increased their lead to ten when the score stood at 18-8.  The Lady Flames didn't go without a fight rallying with a 14-4 run to tie the score at 22.  Both teams battled until junior Katie Kincaid assisted a Sylvester kill to end the game at 30-27.

Liberty came out for revenge in game two jumping ahead 7-1 early before a few errors by the Lady Flames brought UE within three at 7-4.  That was the closest the Aces would get in the game as Liberty went on to win it 30-20. 

Game three was an even battle as neither team led by more than three points throughout the game.  The Aces staring a loss in the face trailing 28-25, eventually won the marathon on back to back kills from Gabruseva, 31-29. 

In game four, the Aces set the tone early jumping out in front 3-0.  The early burst was tested throughout the first half of the game as the Lady Flames kept pace pulling within one at 14-13.  That was the closest Liberty would get as UE led the game from wire to wire and finished strong once again with kills from Sylvester and Spurlock to take the win 30-21.

"The key against Liberty," Swan said. "Was game three when we fell behind 28-25 and then came back to win that game 31-29.  We had great composure and it helped us in gaining momentum for game four.  I'm proud of our effort, we played hard and did things the right way."

The Aces next match will be their first home game of the season on Wednesday, August 29 as the IUPUI Jaguars come to town.  The game will take place at 7 PM in the Carson Center Large Gym.