ST. LOUIS – For the third time in as many weeks, University of Evansville's Giulia Cardona has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week.
 
While the University of Evansville played just one match this week, Cardona continued to rack up some of the top numbers in the nation, accumulating a mind boggling 24.0 points in a 3-set win over Indiana State on Saturday.  In the win over the Sycamores, Cardona recorded 17 kills, 7 service aces and 4 digs.  Cardona's 17 kills came in 32 attempts with her hitting .375 in the contest. 
 
Her 7 aces was a career-high and marked the most in a match for Evansville since 2006.  She was the first MVC player to have 7 aces in a match since 2019 (Carly Nicholson – Illinois State – vs. Little Rock – 9/6/19) and the first to do so versus an MVC opponent since 2009 (Chelsea Lauersdorf – Drake – vs. Indiana State – 10/23/09).  Even more impressive – she was the first in the Valley to have 7 aces against a league foe in three sets since Nov. 3, 2007 (Jennifer Berwanger – SIU – at Drake).  Cardona is 16^th in the NCAA in aces and second among freshmen.
 
Cardona becomes the first to win three freshman awards in a row since Illinois State's Stef Jankiewicz did so in 2017.
 
A huge 3-match home stretch is up next for Evansville starting on Friday with a 6 p.m. contest against Valparaiso.  UE welcomes MVC leader Loyola on Saturday at 4 p.m. before hosting Southern Illinois at 6 p.m. on Monday, November 1.
 

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