The University of Evansville volleyball team (11-10, 4-5) is set to kick off another important weekend, as the Northern Iowa Panthers (18-2, 9-0) come to Carson Center Friday and the Bradley Braves (9-14, 0-9) visit Saturday. Both games begin at 7:00 p.m.

Friday also marks the first Alumni Match for the Aces. Former UE standouts have been invited to take part in the celebration, and all will be introduced on the court after the first set.

“It’s always good to have the alum come back and reintroduce them to the fans,” said Evansville head coach Mike Swan. “It’s nice to acknowledge what they did for our program. So hopefully it will be a good weekend for everybody involved.”

The Aces are currently in a three-way tie in the conference standings after beating Creighton and falling to Bradley in their last games. Senior Ginta Gabruseva’s 3.73 kills per game in conference play ranks her second in the Missouri Valley. The Latvia native led UE over Creighton after posting a game-high 21 kills and 19 digs. Julie Sylvester and Ellen Sawin also rank in the league. Sylvester is currently sixth in the MVC with 4.40 digs per games while Sawin is third with 10.54 assists per game.

“UNI is playing great right now,” Swan said. “They play pretty close to error-free volleyball. They are good in everything they do. They keep their offense spread out and probably have the best setter in the MVC. The fact that we beat them last year here means a lot to our girls. We typically play well at home, and I think if we do play well, we have a chance of knocking them off.”

UNI is off to one of its best league starts this season after winning nine straight and is the only team unbeaten in league play.  The team comes to Carson Center after battling Wichita State and Missouri State last weekend. The Panthers are led by current MVC Player of the Week Shannon Aschoff who averages 3.58 kills in conference play. Bre Payton is also a huge contributor, as she has notched four triple-doubles this season and leads the team with 10.56 assists per set.

“Bradley is really struggling,” Swan said. “That is always concern, though. for everyone who faces them because they don’t want to be the first. It’s going to be a case where we have to stay focused, execute and stay aggressive.”

Bradley looks for a strong start to the second half of its season when the Braves come to Evansville on Saturday. The Braves had tough losses last weekend when they played Missouri State and Wichita State at home. Amy Reichel leads Bradley offensively with 2.54 kills per set while Annie Cave follows with a 2.17 kill average. Setter Skylar Lesan has posted 762 assists this season while Rachelle Dejean leads the team with 202 digs.