PEORIA, Ill. – Missouri Valley Conference play begins for the Purple Aces volleyball team as they will open up with road games at Bradley and Northern Iowa.
 
Evansville, who has gotten off to a hot 10-3 start, will travel to Peoria, Ill. to face Bradley on Friday before making the trek to Cedar Falls, Iowa to take on UNI a day later.  Both matches will begin at 7 p.m.
 
“Going into Bradley on Friday, they have had some success early on this year,” head coach Mike Swan said.  “We need to be focused on executing offensively and defensively against them.  We played great up at UNI last year and I am hoping for a repeat effort this time around.  We’re healthy and I am hoping we can go up there and execute.”
 
After getting off to an 11-1 start in 2010, the Purple Aces have reeled off a 10-3 mark thus far in 2011.  Last time out, UE picked up a 3-1 road win at Belmont after posting a 2-1 mark in last week’s home-opening Dunn Hospitality Invitational. 
 
Rachel TenHoor has been solid as of late, tallying 13 kills in each of the last two matches.  Ellen Sawin has established herself as one of the top setters in the MVC.  The senior has averaged 11.51 assists per set while recording 541 on the season.  Both lead the league and her total of 541 is over 100 more than anyone else in the conference.
 
Bradley enters the conference opener with a 6-3 mark following a 2-1 showing at the Coastal Carolina Classic last week.  The Braves began the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Iona.  Following a 3-1 loss to host CCU, they wrapped up play with a 3-0 sweep of Gardner-Webb.
 
Setter Madison Kamp and middle blocker Amy Angelos have been pivotal to the Braves’ recent success with both garnering all-tournament honors in each of the last two weekends of play.
 
Northern Iowa, who is ranked No. 15 in the latest poll, begins the week with a 9-1 overall mark with their only loss coming at the hands of sixth-ranked Minnesota.  The Panthers are coming off of a 3-0 home sweep over No. 12 Iowa State.  Tuesday’s win over the Cyclones marked their second victory of the season over a top 25 opponent.  On Sept. 2, UNI took a 3-2 win over Florida State, who was ranked 25^th at the time.
 
The Panthers open up their league schedule on Friday against Southern Illinois and will look to extend a conference winning streak of 36 games, which dates back to the beginning of the 2009 season.
 
Evansville and Bradley split their matches in 2010, with the road team winning each match in four sets.  The Aces have lost their last four games against Northern Iowa with their last win over the Panthers coming on Nov. 1, 2008.