NORMAL, Ill. – Melanie Feliciano led all players with 16 kills in Sunday's series opener at Illinois state that saw the Redbirds take a 3-0 win over the University of Evansville volleyball team on Sunday afternoon at Redbird Arena.

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Box Score (PDF)

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Feliciano hit .286 for the Purple Aces (5-12, 4-11 MVC) and added four digs.  Alondra Vazquez recorded 13 kills and 8 digs while Rachel Basinski added 16 digs and four assists.  Cecilia Thon and Allana McInnis tied for the team lead with 12 helpers.  Leading ISU (10-5, 8-3 MVC) was Kaylee Martin, who totaled 13 kills and hit .345.
 
Game 1
The teams battled back and forth early on, leading to a 5-5 score.  The first significant run of the day belonged to the Redbirds, who scored four in a row to go up 9-5.  Evansville took advantage of a pair of ISU errors to get within two at 13-11 before consecutive service aces pushed the Illinois State lead back to four.  With ISU still up by four (19-15), they went on to post the final six points of the game to take the opening set by a 25-15 final.
 
Game 2
Evansville had a nice start to the second frame.  After ISU scored the first two points, the Aces registered seven of the next nine points to go up 7-4.  Melanie Feliciano had it going, recording four kills over that span.  The Redbirds came back to tie it at 9-9, but UE fended off the challenge with Alondra Vazquez posting a pair of kills in a 3-0 stretch.  That is when Illinois State turned the tide.  A 7-1 run put them back in front by a 16-13 margin and they would go on to take the set by a 25-19 score to grab a 2-0 lead.
 
Game 3
Another kill by Feliciano saw the Purple Aces tie the set up at 7-7 in the early-going.  The teams would force several ties before the Aces jumped in front at 13-12 on an ISU error.  Evansville also took a 14-13 lead, but the with the game knotted at 15-15, the Redbirds scored two in a row.  The Aces responded, using a Rachel Basinski ace to tie the game at 20-20.  Unfortunately, the Redbirds had a counter of their own, going on another late run to clinch the match.  ISU reeled of the final five tallies to finish the 3-0 win.
 
On Monday, the teams meet up for another 4 p.m. match.
 

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