Box Score
The home opener was a bang for the University of Evansville volleyball team (6-4), as the Aces took a convincing 3-0 win (25-12, 25-19, 25-20) over the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks (5-4) Monday night at Carson Center.
“Offensively, to hit over .400 is just unbelievable,” said Evansville head coach Mike Swan. “It didn’t matter the position, we were able to connect. It was great to play in front of a home crowd and get them excited about this team. Hopefully we can take this confidence into Carbondale when we open up Valley play, and I hope we see a resemblance of tonight.”
Evansville had four players hit over .400 in the match with Brooke Maher collecting a game-high 15 kills. Emily Wandersee posted a .500 attack percentage after 11 kills on 20 attempts and one error. Kaisi Nixon and Ginta Gabruseva also tallied attack percentages over .400 to lead the team to a .424 hitting percentage for the night.
The first set had UE strike with the first point. The Aces gained a quick advantage when UTM had back-to-back errors on their serving points, and UE kept rolling to an 11-4 lead. The home team kept the momentum after a Skyhawk timeout to go up 20-8 with a Nixon kill that bounced off an opposing player’s head. An ace from April Lubrecht put UE up 1-0 after a 25-12 win in the set.
In the next contest, the Skyhawks found the first point. The visitors kept a tight grip on UE after the Aces found the lead, as UTM stayed within one or two points early. A 4-0 scoring rally put UE ahead 13-8. Although UTM got within striking distance at 14-12, UE fed off the home crowd’s energy to get a 25-19 victory.
The Aces climbed to a 3-1 lead in the third outing, but UTM kept pushing back. After seven tied scores and four lead changes, the Aces were able to find their niche and go up 17-13 before a UTM break. The Skyhawks pulled within three, but a kill from Gabruseva and an error on UTM capped the 25-20 win for UE.
Evansville starts league play in its next match when the team takes on Southern Illinois in Carbondale on Friday, September 18 at 7:00 p.m.
