EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Purple Aces volleyball team embarks on its second-to-last road trip of the season this weekend as they travel to Creighton and Drake. 
 
The weekend begins on Friday as UE travels to Omaha to take on Creighton before heading to Des Moines for a tilt against Drake on Saturday.  Both matches will begin at 7 p.m.
 
Evansville went 1-1 last weekend, sweeping past Missouri State before falling in a 3-1 match to Wichita State on Saturday.  Freshman Emma Roberson took MVC Freshman of the Week honors as she averaged 14 kills per match.  That tally included a career-high of 15 in the win over the Bears.
 
Ashley Ring also put forth a solid effort, averaging 15 kills over the weekend.  She recorded 17 in the hard-fought match against the Shockers.
 
Both will look to build on their recent success, beginning at Creighton on Friday.  Evansville has not won in Omaha since taking a 3-2 win over the Bluejays on October 6, 2000.  Creighton is 9-1 in the league and 18-3 overall.  They are tied in the loss column with Northern Iowa, who is 10-1 to sit atop the league.
 
Creighton is strong defensively as they are No. 1 in the Valley in opponent hitting and blocks.  They are allowing opponents to hit just .139 on the season while they average a league-best 3.13 blocks per set.
 
Drake is 2-8 in the MVC and 3-18 overall.  Evansville beat them earlier in the season at the Carson Center and last won in Des Moines in 2010.  Sarah Madden of the Bulldogs leads the league with 5.56 digs per set to lead Drake.
 
Next weekend, the Aces begin a 3-match homestand to wrap up its home slate.  Southern Illinois comes to town on Nov. 2 while Bradley and UNI come in a week later.