EVANSVILLE, Ind. – It was a total team effort on Friday evening as the University of Evansville volleyball team earned its first Missouri Valley Conference win, defeating Southern Illinois by a final of 3-0 inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
Rachel Tam notched a game-high 21 kills while Mildrelis Rodriguez and Alondra Vazquez finished with nine for the Purple Aces (7-12, 1-5 MVC). Olivia Goldstein notched 12 digs while Vazquez and Tam chipped in nine apiece. Allana McInnis had a strong outing with 22 assists, a block assist and her first kill of the season.
Box Score (PDF)
Southern Illinois (4-14, 0-5 MVC) saw Maggie Nedoma record 10 kills while Kat Wagner had 10 digs.
Rachel Tam was on fire in the early-going, helping the Aces take a 4-2 lead. Southern Illinois battled back to take an 8-7 advantage before UE reeled off four in a row to go up 11-8. After SIU scored twice, Tam's fourth kill of the game saw the Aces retake the lead and push that advantage to four at 14-10. The Salukis cut the deficit to one at 17-16 before Tam struck again as another kill pushed the lead back to three. Evansville's lead remained at three – 24-21 – before the Salukis made a comeback, scoring four in a row to go up 25-24. Rodriguez halted the run with a kill before UE rallied for a 27-25 win to take a 1-0 match lead.
Joselyn Coronel had a nice start to game two, posting a block and kill to give the Aces a 2-0 lead. SIU made their way back, registering five of the next six points to go up 5-3. Olivia Goldstein had a service ace as Evansville jumped back in front, 11-9, before a pair of Tam kills extended the lead to 13-9.
UE's rally continued as Milredlis Rodriguez notched a pair of aces to push the lead to 18-12 before an Alondra Vazquez kill gave the Aces a 7-point advantage. The Aces held strong from there, taking the set by a final of 25-18 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Game three saw the Aces get off to a quick start with a Tam ace giving UE a 6-3 edge before one from Vazquez pushed the lead to 9-4. Allana McInnis then had a strong stretch of her own, notching her first kill of the season, a block assist and an ace to give the Aces a 16-6 lead. The Aces added to the lead with back-to-back service aces from Elena Redmond to clinch the match with a 25-13 victory.
Tomorrow evening, the Aces are back at Meeks Family Fieldhouse for a 7 p.m. contest versus Missouri State.
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