• Boxscore
NORMAL, Ill.--After leading Illinois State 2-0, the University of Evansville volleyball team (12-12, 5-7 MVC) fell to the Redbirds (10-13, 5-7 MVC) by a score of 3-2 (25-16, 25-23, 22-25, 20-25, 10-15) in Normal, Illinois, on Friday night.
“It is definitely a disheartening loss after we were up 2-0 and had a chance to win it in the third,” said Evansville head coach Mike Swan. “I think our confidence broke in the fourth game, and our mistakes are what cost us the match. Our blocking wasn’t what it was the last time that we played them, and it was frustrating. We just need to step up tomorrow night at Indiana State to get a good road win.”
The Aces were led by Ginta Gabruseva and Brooke Maher with double-doubles from both players. Gabruseva posted 16 kills, 13 digs and three service aces while Maher collected 14 kills and 25 digs. Ellen Sawin also had a double-double of 47 assists and 13 digs. Emily Wandersee tabbed 11 kills and five block assists. Julie Sylvester recorded 26 digs in the match.
In the first set, the Aces posted a .306 attack percentage to lead UE to a 25-16 win. The Aces got off to a fast 3-1 lead after errors from the Redbirds and a kill from Gabruseva. UE continued to roll with short scoring spurts of two to three points on its way to a convincing first win.
Illinois State started the second with a 2-0 advantage before UE tied it at 3 and again at 4. The Redbirds held the lead until the visitors tied it at 17, and a kill from Sawin gave the Aces their first lead of the set at 18-17. Illinois State took the lead back over prior to UE regaining it at 22-21. Two kills from Maher helped cap the second for the Aces 25-23.
After trading points for most of the third, the Aces took the 18-14 lead after back-to-back aces from Gabruseva and an Illinois State attack error. Five-straight kills from the Redbirds tied the set at 19 before Illinois State held off the sweep at 25-22.
The fourth started similar to the third in the back-and-forth scoring between the teams. The Aces finally broke away to gain a 10-5 advantage. The Redbirds tied the match at 11, 14 and 15 before taking the lead. A 4-0 run by the home team closed the set at 25-20.
Kills from three different Redbirds helped Illinois State go up 4-0 in the fifth. Kills from Wandersee and Maher closed the gap at 6 before Illinois State took the final set 15-10.
The Aces look to get a road win when they face Indiana State on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
