After a strong showing at the Memphis Invitational, the University of Evansville volleyball hopes to carry that momentum to Cincinnati for the Bearcats Invitational this weekend to play College of Charleston, Cincinnati and Youngstown State.

UE plays College of Charleston at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Day two of the tournament has Cincinnati slated for 11:30 a.m. and Youngstown State at 4:00 p.m.

“I thought our back row defense looked really good at times in Memphis,” said Evansville head coach Mike Swan. “We are second in the conference right now if digs, but we also know that our blocking has to get better. We saw some big issues with timing and reading that need to be fixed because we know that the teams this weekend have a little more offensive mindset than last weekend. We also need to eliminate unforced hitting errors.

“If we cleanup some of those things, then I think we can look impressive at times on offense and defense.”

The Purple Aces had key production from multiple players in the Memphis tourney. Sophomore setter Ellen Sawin recorded career highs in assists and digs with 57 and 14, respectively, versus Arkansas State on her way to being named to the all-tournament team. April Lubrecht also posted a new career-high 20 digs. Outside hitter Brooke Maher earned all-tournament honors after recording 15 kills and 18 digs in the victory over Memphis. Freshman Hannah Wilson had a strong showing in her first collegiate games with 41 digs and 19 kills over the weekend.

On Friday, the Lady Aces face off with the College of Charleston. The Cougars started the season 1-2 after playing in the Big Orange Bash in Clemson, South Carolina. Senior Emily Sawin, sister of UE setter Ellen Sawin, led the offensive charge for the Cougars in their first weekend tournament with 39 kills on 113 attempts. The outside hitter also posted 33 digs with Cole Dawley posting 121 assists in the three games. Defensively, Sarah Havel leads the team in blocks with 15, including six solo blocks and nine block assists.

“The thing that concerns me with them is that they know how to win,” said Swan on the C of C team who has made recent visits to the NCAA Tournament. “Even though they might not be particularly stronger in positions than we are, they just have that history of winning. They don’t make a lot of mistakes, stay in their system, serve smart and make you make mistakes.”

Cincinnati and Youngstown State also provide a challenge for Evansville. According to Swan, Cincinnati is going to be a more physical team than the Aces and is a Top 50 program. The host team brings in a tremendous outside hitter in Missy Harpenau who already averages 5.29 kills per set in three games. The Bearcats come into the tournament with a 1-2 record after beating UC-Riverside and dropping close matches to Arizona State and Utah at the Utah Classic.

Youngstown brings a 1-2 mark into Cincinnati. Ruth Boscaljon leads the team in kills with 36 and blocks with 13 while Allison Heinz tops the attack percentage with .431.“Youngstown is a team that is trying to establish itself,” Swan said. “Joe Bonner has been there for three years now. That’s a team that we think we should be able to beat when we are playing well, but we could get beat by them as well as anybody.”

The Purple Aces’ games can be followed live over the weekend by clicking here or visiting the volleyball homepage on Cincinnati’s athletics web site at GoBearcats.com.