Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Rachel TenHoor recorded her second-straight 13-kill effort as the University of Evansville volleyball team took down Belmont, 3-1, Tuesday evening.
 
“It was an offensive struggle all night as we could not get in a good rhythm,” head coach Mike Swan said.  “On the good side, it was our best blocking performance of the season by far and we played good defense behind that.  Belmont is always tough on home court so it feels good to come away with the win.”
 
Evansville upped its record to 10-3 entering conference play at Bradley and Northern Iowa later this week.
 
Game one saw the Aces rally from an early 10-3 hole.  Down 10-4, UE forced Belmont into five-straight attack errors.  The rally continued as Ellen Sawin set up freshman Ashley Ring for a pair of kills to make it 14-13 in favor of the Bruins.  Following a Belmont time out, the Purple Aces reeled off two more point to take their first advantage of the game.  Belmont clawed back as the game would be tied four times down the stretch, but UE was able to seal the win on a Lauren Seyller kill.
 
The Bruins got off to another hot start in the second set, grabbing an 11-7 lead.  The Aces fought back to reel off four-straight point to knot the game at 11, but Belmont rallied to outscore UE, 14-10 down the stretch to tie the match.
 
In the third set, UE once again had to fight back from an early 11-7 deficit.  Kaisi Nixon and TenHoor had a pair of kills as the Aces would tie the game for the first time at 15-15.  A few moments later, another kill by Ring, who set a career-best with seven on the night, would give UE its first lead at 17-16.  The back-and-forth contest continued, but with the score tied at 22, a Brooke Maher kill helped the Aces reel off the final three points for the win.
 
Evansville was able to close out the Bruins in the fourth set by a 25-22 final to take the match.  It did not come easy, though, as the set featured 13 ties.  The teams found themselves in a 21-21 tie before another late rally finished off the Bruins. 
 
Katie Klages and April Lubrecht got the job done defensively, notching 29 and 20 digs, respectively while Nixon and Maher tallied 9 and 8 kills.  Nixon also finished the night with a solid .364 attack percentage.  Belmont was led by Maggie Johnson’s 20-kill effort.
 
Friday will mark the Missouri Valley Conference opener for the Aces, who will take on Bradley before squaring off against Northern Iowa a day later.