Arkansas State Box Score
SEMO Box Score

After beginning the day on a sour note with a loss against Arkansas State, the University of Evansville (2-1) volleyball team came back to defeat Southeast Missouri State 3-1.

“I would have loved to be 3-0, and we had the opportunity, but we let the morning game slip out of our control,” said Evansville head coach Mike Swan. “I am very pleased at how we approached SEMO. I thought we played with a lot of poise, and on offense, we evenly distributed the load. Starting the season 2-1 is not bad, but we need to build off of it and clean up for next week in Cincinnati.”

Junior Viera Rajcan tallied 12 kills and four block assists for a team high in both categories. Sophomore Brooke Maher tabbed another double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs while freshman Hannah Wilson and senior Ginta Gabruseva added 10 kills each. April Lubrecht had 17 digs to finish the game.

SEMO got up to a 3-0 start out of the gate in the first set. UE composed itself quickly and a got a six-point lead at 13-7. A combination of kills from multiple players increased the margin to 22-16 before the Lady Aces claimed the set at 25-23.

UE jumped to a 6-1 lead early in set two. The Purple Aces held on to the advantage until back-to-back service aces put SEMO on top 10-8. The lead didn’t last long as an ace from Ellen Sawin placed UE at 14-13. The scored stayed tight, but the Lady Aces stayed strong and took the set at 25-23.

A role reversal took place in the third set with the Redhawks gaining a lead and UE never closing the gap. SEMO got 16 kills on 27 attempts to hit .556 for the set compared to Evansville’s .057 attack percentage. SEMO took the set at 25-14.

With UE on top first and a few lead changes to follow, the Lady Aces took hold of the reigns at 18-17. The Redhawks threatened after being down four points at 25-24, but an attack error on SEMO allowed UE to win the set 26-24.

Arkansas State 3, Evansville 2

Evansville couldn’t hold on to an early 2-0 lead and the Arkansas State Red Wolves gave the Lady Aces their first loss at 3-2.

Junior Emily Wandersee finished the match with a team-high 16 kills while Gabruseva and Maher collected 14 and 12, respectively. Sawin posted a career-high 57 assists.

Evansville returns to the court on Friday, September 4 at the Bearcat Invitational in Cincinnati and face College of Charleston at 4:00 p.m.