EVANSVILLE, Ind. – After opening up Missouri Valley Conference play last weekend on the road, the Purple Aces volleyball team welcomes in a pair of league teams to the Carson Center this weekend.
 
Loyola comes to town for a 7 p.m. match on Friday before Bradley takes on the Aces at the Carson Center beginning at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
 
Despite the Aces falling in its three matches last week, one constant has remained and that has been the offensive play of junior Ashley Ring.  The native of Madison, Wisc. posted 43 kills in the three matches over the week, an average of 4.30 per set. She continues to rank third in the MVC with 3.96 kills/set.
 
Aside from Ring's efforts in the opening week of MVC play, Meaghan Holmes also continued to contribute in a big way.  She was second on the team with 13 kills while hitting .222, the highest of any UE player with 10 or more attempts.  Holmes has been a strong complement to Ring on both the offensive and defensive side. 
 
One large disparity stands out when you compare the stats of Evansville's non-conference to their conference matches. In its non-conference matches, the Aces out-hit the competition .207-.200 while the two league games have seen UE hit just .126 while the opposition has hit .266.
 
Friday begins with a visit from Loyola.  Evansville and Loyola are conference rivals again for the first time in 20 years since both were in the MCC. On Friday, the rivalry will officially renew as the schools will face each other in a sport for the first time as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. Many of UE's sports played Loyola over the years with volleyball last facing the Ramblers in 2010, taking a 3-0 win.
 
Standing at 6-7 overall, the Ramblers split a pair of conference matches at Gentile Arena last week.  After falling to Northern Iowa by a 3-1 final, they swept past Drake on Saturday.  The win halted a 5-match losing streak.  Freshman outside Morgan Reardon continued her terrific start, notching 28 kills (4.00 kps) in Loyola's two matches last weekend. Reardon recorded match-high totals of 15 kills vs UNI and 13 vs Drake and is on pace to become just the third freshman in program history to lead Loyola in kills for a season.
 
Bradley has gotten off to a strong 7-3 start while sweeping Drake in their MVC opener last weekend.  Alise Tupuritis picked up her team-leading fourth double-double of the year with a team-high 11 kills and 12 digs Sunday against Drake.  One of the keys to their success thus far has also been Melissa Hoerber, who tops the Valley in service aces this season.  She has 13 over the course of 37 sets this season, an average of 0.35/set.