It was a special weekend for the University of Evansville volleyball team as they picked up wins over Bradley and Northern Iowa this weekend to improve to 7-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference.  The Aces swept the MVC Player of the Week awards with freshman Ellen Sawin receiving State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week and Freshman of the week while sophomore Julie Sylvester was named Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts over the weekend.

Freshman setter Ellen Sawin (New Lenox, Ill. / Lincoln-Way Central) averaged 14.0 assists per set in the Aces’ two wins last weekend. Friday against Bradley, Sawin posted 44 assists while also coming up with three kills and four digs as the Aces completed a three-game sweep of Bradley. On Saturday, Sawin posted a season and career-high 54 assists as the Aces defeated UNI for the first time in 31 all-time meetings between the two teams. In both matches, Sawin totaled 98 assists, five kills, 12 digs, three block assists, two aces and committed just one error in 11 attempts to hit .364. She is now averaging 10.21 assists per set in MVC play and has posted eight-straight matches with double-digit assists, including five matches with 40 or more.

Sophomore libero Julie Sylvester (Carmel, Ind. / Cathedral) anchored the Aces’ back row this weekend averaging 6.57 digs per set in the two matches. Against Bradley, Sylvester dug up 23 balls and had an assist to lead the team. On Saturday, she led the Aces’ defense with 23 digs and three assists against the Panthers. Sylvester ranks sixth in the MVC, averaging 4.38 digs per set and is just one shy of 400 digs for the season. She has recorded double-digit digs in every match this season with the exception of two. Sylvester has posted seven matches with 20 or more digs and is one of two players to play in every set this season for the Aces.