Box Score (PDF)

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Following stellar outings in the Dunn Hospitality Tournament, University of Evansville volleyball players Kim Deprez and Genesis Miranda were named to the All-Tournament Team as the Purple Aces finished the weekend at 2-1.
 
Evansville (5-6) fell to Northern Kentucky (5-5) by a 3-0 final in the last game of the tournament.  Miranda led Evansville with 18 kills and Stephanie Cerino tallied ten.  Mildrelis Rodriguez posted a match-high 22 digs while Deprez had 13.  Lorena Marquez had 39 assists.
 
"I think this weekend was a great stepping stone for us.  I feel like we synced our offense and defense really well, which we have been working at for a while, so that was great to see," Deprez said.  "It was very calm on the court like we knew we were going to win.  We did not get the result we wanted in our last match, but we learned a lot and are ready to come out on top at our next tournament at Central Michigan."
 
Miranda was also excited with the weekend and the beginning to Evansville's home schedule.
 
"This weekend was great and exciting because we played at home," Miranda said.  "We all played well and as a team, we improved on a lot of things including defense and blocking.  These games will help us to keep working hard and get off to a strong start in the conference."
 
Early in the first set, Evansville grabbed the early 8-5 lead thanks to two kills apiece from Miranda and Cerino.  A 5-0 spurt by the Norse put them on top by a 10-8 score before UE fought back to tie it at 10-10.  UE later extended that stretch to go up by a 15-12 margin before a 6-1 run by NKU put them up 19-16.  Down the stretch, Northern Kentucky converted as they reeled off the final two points of the set to break at 23-23 tie and take the win.
 
In the second frame, the Norse once again had the answers late as they took a 25-20 win.  Seven ties led to a 12-12 score before Northern Kentucky rallied ahead 16-13 on a UE error.  After Evansville tied it up at 17-17, the Norse punched back with a set-ending 8-3 run to go up 2-0.
 
A 3-0 start to game three looked like it would propel the Aces to a win, but a late rally from the Norse saw them finish off the match.  Rocio Fortuny served UE to the early lead.  The advantage for Evansville grew to as many as six points at 19-13 as Cerino recorded a service ace.  Tristen Simpson helped NKU fight back as a 7-2 stretch saw them trail by one at 21-20. 
 
Evansville looked like it was back on track as a bad set by the Norse gave the Aces a 24-22 lead.  It was not to be as Haley Libs notched two kills in a row before Simpson registered her ninth of the set to clinch the match for Northern Kentucky.  Simpsons led NKU with 14 kills while Creamer had 12 and Jayden Julian finished the night with 11.
 
UE will play its final non-conference tournament next weekend in Mt. Pleasant, Mich.  The Aces begin the event against host Central Michigan before taking on Nebraska-Omaha and San Jose State.
 

• INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville volleyball, log on to the sport page on GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthletics_VB. 

 

• DONATE: For information on giving to UE Athletics or its individual athletics programs, visit the DONATE tab on the top of GoPurpleAces.com. 

 

• TICKETS: To purchase tickets for University of Evansville athletics events, log on to GoPurpleAces.com and click on the TICKETS tab on top of the page.