Game One Box
Game Two Box
CHICAGO, Ill.—The University of Evansville volleyball team split its matches on Saturday in the last day of the Loyola Invitational at the Gentile Center. The Aces knocked off Tennessee-Martin in the first game but were unable to hold off host Loyola in the title match. The Aces finished second with a 3-1 slate while Loyola won the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record. Evansville players, Kaisi Nixon and Kerry Sylvester, were named to the All-Tournament team.
“We made a lot of progress in the last week,” said head coach Mike Swan. “We have made a huge turnaround and we are starting to perform better. We came up a little short in the championship game, but overall we feel pretty well.”
Game 1
After a close first set, the Aces were able to put away the Skyhawks in three for the victory.
The Aces hit .315 over the three sets and never trailed in the last two sets as they took down the Skyhawks, 27-25, 25-13, and 25-19.
Ginta Gabruseva had a .562 efficiency in the match and posted 10 kills and two block assists to lead the Aces. Brooke Maher also posted 10 kills and all-tournament players Kaisi Nixon and Kerry Sylvester had nine and eight, respectively. Nixon also led the team with 23 assists while senior Katie Kincaid posted 19 and had 12 digs. Sophomore Emily Wandersee had three block assists and hit .368 with seven kills in the match.
Game 2
Loyola was too much for the Aces in the championship game as the Ramblers completed their perfect tournament record to win the tournament. Set scores were 25-18, 25-23, 21-25, and 25-21.
Maher was in double digits with 10 kills and 14 digs in the match. Senior Sally Kulupka led the Aces will 11 kills and Nixon added 8. Wandersee hit .316 with seven kills and had two block assists. Wandersee and Sylvester each were credited with a solo block. Kincaid led the Aces with 25 assists while Nixon had 19.
The Aces (3-5) will return to action on Wednesday for their home opener with Southern Illinois at Edwardsville. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. in the Carson Center.
