PEORIA, Ill. – Giulia Cardona and Melanie Feliciano recorded 19 and 18 kills, respectively, in a 3-1 setback to Bradley on Saturday evening in Renaissance Coliseum.
Box Score (PDF)
Cardona's match-high 19 kills came along with 14 digs and two block assists. Feliciano also had a double-double for the Purple Aces (17-8, 7-7 MVC) adding 10 digs to her 18 kills. Alondra Vazquez was the third UE player to finish with a double-double, picking up 15 kills and 12 digs. Taya Haffner and Cecilia Thon led the squad in assists (28 and 27) while Thon picked up three aces.
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Hannah Thompson led the Bradley (15-11, 11-4 MVC) attack with 12 kills and 14 digs. Serena Sparks led all players with her 16 digs.
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Set 1 – Bradley 26, UE 24
Bradley jumped out to a 4-1 lead to open the night and would go up by as many as five points when they took a 15-10 advantage. With the Braves continuing to lead by five (17-12), the Aces made their move, going on an 8-2 run to take their first lead of the night at 20-19. Kills by Madisyn Steele and Melanie Feliciano made it an 18-16 game before the run continued with a Vazquez kill that gave the Aces the lead. Bradley countered with three in a row, but UE fought back once again to tie it at 22-22. With the game tied at 24-24, it was BU who added the final two points to take a 1-0 lead.
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Set 2 – Bradley 25, UE 13
Another fast start saw the Braves take a 5-1 lead. After letting Evansville erase their advantage in the opening frame, Bradley kept the petal to the metal in the second, extending the lead to 13-5. The Aces were unable to close the gap with the Braves grabbing a 2-0 lead on the strength of the 25-13 win.
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Set 3 – UE 27, Bradley 25
A Feliciano kill saw the Aces get off to their best start of the night, taking an early 5-4 edge. With the set knotted at 10-10, the Braves took their biggest edge at 17-12 as they looked to complete the 3-0 shutout. Evansville had other ideas, scoring the next six points to jump back in front at 18-17. Vazquez and Giulia Cardona had two kills apiece in the rally. The squad swapped the lead down the stretch before the Braves had set point, up 24-23. Down to its final point, the Aces took advantage of back-to-back Feliciano kills to go back in front. After BU tied it at 25-25, Feliciano and Vazquez forced a fourth set with a 27-25 win for UE. Â
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Set 4 – Bradley 25, UE 21
In a close battle early on, the Braves held a 9-7 advantage. They would gradually add to their lead, going up by eight points at 23-15. With their opportunity for a win slipping away, the Aces made a final rally, scoring four in a row to make it a 23-19 game. Following a Bradley point, Vazquez added a kill before Cardona registered an ace to get UE back within three at 24-21. Unfortunately, the rally came just a few points too late when a kill sealed the 25-21 win in the fourth set and a 3-1 match.
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The final home weekend of action is slated for next weekend when the Aces welcome Drake and UNI on Friday and Saturday.
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