EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Indiana State volleyball fell to Evansville Friday night at the Meeks Family Fieldhouse in five sets (25-19, 12-25, 19-25, 25-14, 15-11). Indiana State dropped to 7-15 on the season and 5-5 in Missouri Valley Conference action while the Aces moved to 9-13 overall and 3-7 in conference play.
 
Junior Laura Gross led the Sycamores with 12 kills and 12 digs en route to her 13th double-double of the season. Cassie Kawa and Nikkie White each tallied 11 kills for the Sycamores while combining for seven blocks.
 
Indiana State dropped the first set to the Aces, 25-19 before storming back in the second set for a 25-12 win. After two sets, the Sycamores were hitting .320 as a squad led by Kawa who continued to impress on the offensive side of the ball. The redshirt sophomore finished the contest with a .364 attacking percent on 22 attempts.
 
ISU carried over the momentum after the break to take a 2-1 lead in the match after running away with the third set, 25-19. The Aces would bounce back though with a 25-14 win in the fourth to force a decisive fifth set.
 
A slow start was too much to overcome for Indiana State in the final frame as Evansville jumped out to a 5-1 lead. The Trees would close the gap to three points at 12-9 later in the set but could not complete the rally as UE went on for a 15-11 win to take the match and end a 10-match skid to the Sycamores.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Three Sycamores recorded double-digit kills in the loss with Gross leading the way with 12 while White and Kawa had 11 each
• ISU outhit the Aces .165 to .142 but the Aces were able to limit errors as ISU had 35 while UE had 31
• Senior Rachel Griffin assisted on 42 of the teams' 49 total kills in the match. She added 20 digs and a trio of kills
• ISU recorded eight service aces led by Griffin with three
• Middle blocker Damadj Johnson dominated the net with a team high six blocks to go with seven kills
• Libero Stephanie Bindernagel had 20 digs in the match

Next Up
The Sycamores return home next weekend as they play host to Southern Illinois and Missouri State.   
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Volleyball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.