EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Sophomore Giulia Cardona led the University of Evansville volleyball team with 11 kills in a 3-0 loss to Southern Illinois inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse on Friday evening.
 
Cardona added six digs.  Alondra Vazquez and Madisyn Steele finished with nine kills apiece.  Vazquez tied for the match-high with 10 digs.  Kora Ruff recorded 27 assists and eight digs for the Purple Aces.
 
Set 1 – SIU 25, UE 22
Southern Illinois hit the ground running, scoring the first six points of the night before going up 8-1.  UE got within five tallies on multiple occasions before the Salukis pushed the lead to 16-8 – the biggest lead to that point.  Trailing 21-15, the Purple Aces stormed back.
 
Alondra Vazquez picked up consecutive service aces to help her team make it a 22-20 game.  Despite the comeback, SIU fended off the challenge to take the 25-22 win.

Set 2 – SIU 25, UE 19
Another big start for Southern Illinois gave them a 4-1 edge to begin game two.  Evansville took advantage of a handful of Saluki errors to tie the game at 5-5 before SIU responded to retake the advantage at 10-6.  A kill from Emilee Scheumann was followed by a Laura Ruiz service ace that cut the SIU lead to 16-14.
 
Madisyn Steele recorded a kill that got her team even closer (18-17) before a game-ending run saw Southern Illinois win by a 25-19 score and go up 2-0.
 
Set 3 – SIU 25, UE 18
After opening on a 3-1 run, the Salukis added to their lead going up 10-5 forcing an Aces time out.  Brooke Springer ended the SIU run with a kill, but the Salukis came right back to clinch the match with the 25-18 decision.
 
UE welcomes Missouri State on Saturday at 5 p.m.