EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Junior Mildrelis Rodriguez recorded a double-double of 17 kills and 20 digs as the University of Evansville volleyball team battled, but fell to Valparaiso, 3-1 (12-25, 25-18, 15-25, 22-25), on Friday night in Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
Rodriguez led the Aces (10-17, 4-11 MVC) with 17 kills while Rachel Tam also recorded double-figure kills with 10 on the night.. Allana McInnis tallied 26 assists to lead Evansville, while Taylor Jones chipped in 17 assists. The top defensive performer of the night was Cassie Brooks, who amassed 22 digs.
Box Score (PDF)
The Crusaders were led by Katherine Carlson with 16 kills and Brittany Anderson who recorded 42 assists.
Valpo opened the first set on a 7-1 run, but kills by Tam and Cathy Schreiber helped limit the lead to just six at 11-5. After the Crusaders opened their lead to 10 at 20-10, Evansville pushed back to within eight at 20-12 before Valpo ended the match on a five-point run to earn a 25-12 opening set win.
The second set belonged to the Aces, who came out of the intermission strong. Evansville opened the set with three-straight points including kills by Rodriguez and Adeline Payne. Valpo kept pace with the Aces, edging past UE to take a 13-11 lead midway through the frame. The Aces roared back with a 14-5 run to close the set including a pair of 4-0 runs that helped Evansville seal the 25-18 second-set victory. Of the Aces' final four points in the set, Rodrgiuez contributed three of them with kills.
In the early portion of the third set, the Aces marched along with the Crusaders each step of the way. With Evansville holding a 6-5 lead, Valpo put together a 5-0 run to push in front 10-6 in route to a 25-15 third-set victory
As was the story for much of the night, Evansville controlled the early points of the fourth set, opening the frame with a 3-0 lead on kills by Rodriguez and Schreiber. The Aces lead reached its largest point at 9-4 on a kill by Joselyn Coronel that forced a Valpo timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Crusaders manufactured a 4-0 run to get back within a point before eventually taking the lead at 12-11. In the waning points of what would be the final set, Evansville got within one on two separate occasions, but could not draw closer as Valpo took the fourth-set victory, 25-22, and the match win, 3-1.
The Aces host Senior Night on Saturday as Evansville takes on Loyola in the home finale at 7 p.m.
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