“Naturally, we are all disappointed, we came here expecting to win,” UE head coach Mike Swan said. “The most disappointing thing is that in the two losses, we had big leads in game one and let them get away. We need to learn to play with leads and be able to capitalize in those situations and not expect teams to fold.”
“We’re 6-2, we know what we have to work on and hopefully we have learned from this weekend.”
In the morning match against Murray State, UE triumphed, 3-1. After falling by a 26-24 margin in set one, the Purple Aces fought back to win the next three games to take the match, 3-1.
The second set saw Evansville utilize an 18-5 run to take a 25-11 decision. UE spread its offense around to finish off Murray State as five players recorded the final five kills. The Aces would take the final two games by identical 25-21 scores.
Lauren Seyller, the sophomore transfer from Ohio University, continued her stellar weekend with a match-high 14 kills against the Racers while Brooke Maher notched 12. Katie Klages led the way with 15 while Jenn Murphy led all players with 22 assists.
As was the case in Friday’s loss to Ball State, Evansville found itself down 0-2 to Valparaiso. The Crusaders escaped with narrow 26-24 and 25-21 wins in the first two sets. The Aces would once again fight back, taking a 25-18 win in the third game, but it was too little too late as Valpo cruised to a 25-20 win to take the match.
Maher was the star for UE in the tournament finale, recording 19 kills and 18 digs, both team highs. Kaisi Nixon notched 15 kills while Rachel TenHoor finished the match with 11. Sawin was the team leader in assists with 50.
UE will be back in action on Tuesday, taking on Murray State for the second time in four days before returning home to host the Dunn Hospitality next weekend.
