EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Another weekend of Missouri Valley Conference action is on tap for the University of Evansville volleyball team this weekend as the team takes on Missouri State and Wichita State at the Carson Center.
 
Friday marks the start to the weekend with a tilt against Missouri State at 7 p.m.  That is followed by a visit from the Shockers on Saturday at 6 p.m.  Saturday's match is a white-out and all fans in attendance are encouraged to wear white.
 
Grace Carter had one of the top weekends for any setter over the last several years in the Missouri Valley Conference.  Carter opened the weekend with 20 assists and 5 digs in a road contest at UNI.  In Saturday's 3-1 win at Drake, Carter posted an unbelievable 63 assists to go along with 6 digs. 
 
For the weekend, she averaged 11.86 assists per set.  Her 63 assists was the most for any Evansville player since Ellen Sawin had 68 against Youngstown State in five set in 2009.  It was also the most for any MVC player this season and the highest number since last season when Missouri State's Carly Thomas had 65 in five sets. The last MVC player to have 60+ assists in four sets was Bre Payton of UNI, who notched 61 against UE on Oct. 1, 2010.
 
Ranked third in kills in the league, senior Ashley Ring averaged five per set over the weekend for UE.  The 2-time MVC Player of the Week set her season mark with 26 kills, hitting .288 while tallying 11 digs.  She fell two short of her career-best of 28 (set in 2012) and six shy of the UE record of 32.
 
A 3-4 start in league play has set the Purple Aces on a potential path to their first MVC Tournament appearance since 2008.  It is the best conference start for Evansville since 2010 when the squad opened up with 5 wins in its first 7 league games.
 
Missouri State brings a 12-7 record into Friday's tilt.  The Bears have been strong in league play, going 5-2 with a 3-2 win over Wichita State last weekend.  Their two losses have come to the two undefeated teams in the conference – Illinois State and UNI.  Freshman Lily Johnson has had a stellar start to her career, posting 3.93 kills per set.  That is second in the league.
 
Wichita State enters the week with a 10-7 mark and 4-3 in the league.  In non-conference action, the Shockers picked up strong victories over Baylor, Pepperdine and Butler.  Sophomore Dani Mostrom is one of the top defensive players in the league, ranking third with 4.64 digs per set.