EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Evansville volleyball team won an exciting match in front of a large crowd at Carson Center Friday night. The match came down to a deciding fifth set that ended with the Aces on top of the visiting Southern Illinois Salukis, 3-2.

 

“It was a tremendous win for us to battle back,” said head coach Mike Swan. “Both teams played at a really high level towards the end. Ginta, Brooke, and Emily had huge games and Ellen came in and provided some great setting for our offense. It was a great effort, and we are glad for the win.”

 

The Aces took an early lead and hit .364 as a team in the first set en route to a 25-19 win. Brooke Maher led the way with six kills while Sally Kulupka and Emily Wandersee had three each. Kaisi Nixon and Katie Kincaid had seven kills each for the Aces.

 

The Aces fell behind early in the second set and could not hold on as the Salukis pounded out 12 kills to take the second match 25-16. Maher had three kills in the set to lead the Aces.

 

After the ten minute intermission, the Aces and Salukis battled with the Salukis eventually taking a 25-23 victory in the third set. Maher led the way with four kills while Ginta Gabruseva came in and contributed four.

 

The Aces evened the match with a 25-21 win in the fourth set. Gabruseva led the way with four kills while Kulupka added three. Ellen Sawin was a large factor for the Aces with 11 assists in the set.

 

The Aces closed out the win with an exciting fifth set that pushed the final mark well beyond 15. The Aces and Salukis traded points until the Aces finally pulled away for a 20-18 win. Maher had six kills in the set with Gabruseva adding five. Sawin had 16 assists to lead the team.

 

For the game, Maher accounted for 23 of the Aces points in the game and paced the team with 22 kills in the game while digging up 18 balls. Gabruseva and Wandersee were in double-digits with 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Sawin had 37 kills in the game and Julie Sylvester had 18 digs. Overall, the Aces hit .186 with 65 kills and 83 digs.

 

“We really pulled together as a team tonight,” said Maher. “This is going to be the start of something special. It is the spark we needed to get us going in Valley play.”

 

The Aces (8-8, 2-1) will return to action next weekend as they travel to Northern Iowa and Bradley for two Missouri Valley Conference matches. Friday’s match at UNI will begin at 7 p.m. with Saturday’s match at Bradley beginning at 5 p.m.