UE Vollyball

UE’s “Big Three” Leads

Donovan Schultz

As they enter a dimly lit Meeks Family Fieldhouse, Guilia Cardona and Melanie Feliciano walk side by side, smiling and laughing. They join teammate Alondra Vazquez on the bench, and as they sit down, she slides over to the middle seat and puts her arms around them, returning their bright smiles. They spend the next fifteen minutes discussing the phenomenal seasons they have had as individuals and as a team, but what stands out the most has nothing do to with what they’ve done on the court. It’s clear that the three share a love for one another that extends beyond volleyball, one that’s shared by the closest of friends.

This bond has helped power Evansville to their most successful season in decade. The Purple Aces sport a sterling 17-8 record with four regular season games remaining and look poised to make some serious noise in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

A quick look at the MVC stat leaderboard shows just how dominant the trio has been this season. They occupy the first, third and fifth spots in kills per set and are littered throughout the top of just about every offensive category.

Vazquez, who has put together one of the best careers in school history, has turned out perhaps her finest season yet in what will be her final year in an Aces uniform. Vazquez has followed up a 2021 spring season in which she netted First-Team all-league honors by leading the Valley in kills per set at 4.03, as well as posting a team high 248 digs. Sitting at third in the league with 3.94 kills per set is Cardona, the freshman sensation. The Argentinian and her signature serve have taken the Valley by storm, leading the league in service aces by a wide margin at 42.

Coming in at fifth in the Valley with 3.58 kills per set is Vazquez’s countrymate, Feliciano. The high-flying junior has been dynamite for the Aces since her arrival in Evansville, and her passion has driven the team to uncharted territories in 2021. Together, the trio forms a “Big Three”, and their presence has helped elevate an Evansville program that has long been the doormat of the league.

In 2018, Vazquez entered an Evansville volleyball program coming off nine consecutive losing seasons. Despite a solid effort from the Puerto Rico native, which saw her tally 218 kills, 262 digs and garner an MVC All-Freshmen team selection, the Purple Aces suffered through another abysmal season, going just 10-21 with a 4-14 conference record. a fantastic freshman campaign, earning MVC All-Freshmen team and Second-Team All-Conference honors.

Despite the promising 2019 season, in the spring season of 2021, Evansville took a step back, going just 6-14. However, according to Vazquez and Feliciano, their struggles were not due to a lack of talent. “It’s not like we had a bad team last year and a good team this year,” Vazquez explained. “We had a good team last year, but we didn’t actually believe. We thought that since we had losing records in past years, we were always going to be like that.” Added Feliciano, “Our mentality last year was that we were a losing team, and we weren’t going to make it.” The difference is that this year, they know they can win.

The Aces have done plenty of winning in 2021, starting with a seven-game winning streak to open the season, their longest streak to start a season since 1981. After dropping their first three conference games, the Aces rattled off a six consecutive Valley wins, their longest streak since joining the conference in 1994. Currently, Evansville sits at 7-7 in the league and in great position to reach the conference tournament for just the second time since 2008.

Vazquez and Feliciano credit much of the Aces’ success to a stellar freshmen class. According to Vazquez, the freshmen came in with a mentality that was different than other classes. “They’re not coming here like ‘oh this is college and we’re here to have fun.’ They actually came here to win.”

Although Cardona is the headliner of the class, each freshman has made a significant impact on the court. Taya Haffner has been among the best setters in both the league and the country, as her 10.61 assists per set is tops in the Valley and fifteenth nationally. Middle blocker Madisyn Steele leads the team in blocks with 56, while libero Blakely Freeman has played in 75 sets and tallied 181 digs, which rank fifth and fourth on the team, respectively.

However, it’s Cardona who is the odd-on favorite to take home the MVC Freshman of the Year award at the end of the season. Her presence gives the Aces three dominant attackers, and together, they have powered the top offense in the Valley. Evansville leads the MVC in both hitting percentage and service aces and ranks second in the league in kills per set.

For Cardona, her success would not be possible without Vazquez and Feliciano. Playing a sport in one’s freshman year of college is a difficult task in and of itself, but to do it in a foreign country that does not widely speak in her native tongue has been a big challenge for Cardona. “[Vazquez and Feliciano] have really helped,” Cardona explained. “The fact that we speak Spanish has helped a lot. And not only volleyball wise, but they’ve also helped me a lot getting used to

college, studying, moving into dorms. They tell me if you ever need to go to the store, we’ll take you. Alondra actually helped me to make my bank account.”

Speaking to each other in Spanish on the court has proven to be a big advantage for the trio over their opponents. “If I need to need to say something straight to them, I know I’m not having my best game, it’s better when you have someone that can speak your language,” said Vazquez. “You can express yourself better. We’re speaking Spanish all the time on the court.”

Having each other on the court also helps ease any pressure they might feel if they have an off night. Vazquez explained how when they know one of them isn’t having their best game, the other two say “hey, we need to help her, support her.” Added Cardona, “you don’t have the pressure to be 100%. I know they have my back.”

The presence of Vazquez and Cardona has given Feliciano the confidence to focus on other facets of her game when she has a bad night attacking. Feliciano explained that “sometimes in a game when I’m hitting and I know I don’t have it, but my teammates do, I just focus on passing and defending.” “I feel confident because I know I have Alondra and Guilia talking to me.”

Another source of confidence for Feliciano is her head coach, Fernando Morales. “When I started making errors, he told me ‘I believe in you, keep hitting.’ It gives you confidence.”

Since being named head coach in 2019, Morales has totally revamped the culture of the Aces program. “When I came my freshman year, our team chemistry wasn’t the best. Since my first year, team chemistry has gotten way better, we changed our culture,” said Vazquez. Additionally, she noted how Coach Morales “is way different” than the previous head coach. “You can tell why are successful now and we weren’t then.”

Morales brings an energy to the sideline that radiates throughout the whole team. “In the games he’s jumping with us and running,” said Vazquez. “He’s really passionate.”

Cardona’s relationship with Morales goes way back. “I’ve known him for a really long time,” she said. “He played for my dad and I met him when I was three years old.” As a player, Morales played professionally in several countries, including his native Puerto Rico, where he was also the National Team Captain. Currently, he serves as the head coach for the Puerto Rican Women’s National Team in addition to his duties as the head man for the Aces.

The Puerto Rican connection is obvious on the Aces roster, as they feature four players and two coaches from the island. Although Cardona is from Argentina, her father coached the Puerto Rican Men’s National Team, where he developed a relationship with Morales.

Unfortunately, the strong Latino presence on the team has caused Morales and his players to be on the receiving end of racially charged comments from opposing fans earlier this season. Cardona explained that when it happened, her and her fellow Latino teammates “didn’t hear it, didn’t really care.” However, “the rest of the team was like ‘no, that’s unacceptable.’” In particular, junior middle blocker Hannah Watkins was adamant in her condemnation of the attack. “Hannah got super mad about it,” said Cardona. “She did so much to try to help, doing anything she could, and that was comforting.”

Led by Watkins, the team decided to act on the situation. They created a video to be played before every home game for the rest of the season in which, surrounded by the team, Watkins advocates for fair treatment towards all players, regardless of any differences among them.

The outpour of support shown by the team shows just how close they have become. “We feel like a family now,” says Feliciano. “Last year, we were really spread, we had a lot of drama. We are strong this year.”

The first two months of the season have seen the Aces flourish, showing the rest of the league that they have what it takes to compete at a high level in the Valley. For the “Big Three,” postseason accolades are sure to come in bunches. All three will likely be named First-Team All-Conference, Cardona is almost a lock to win Freshman of the Year, and there is a good chance that one will be named the Conference Player of the Year. However, they aren’t concerned about the individual accolades.

When asked about their goals for the remainder of the season, Feliciano answered without hesitation. “I feel we can win the conference. We want to win.”

Vazquez echoed her teammate, stating that “we can win, we can go to the NCAA Tournament.” Turning to Cardona and Feliciano, she smiled and told them “This is the year.”

All season long, the Aces have shattered records and soared to heights never seen before by the program. Four years ago, an MVC title and NCAA Tournament seemed like an impossibly tall task. However, with Cardona, Feliciano and Vazquez leaping into air unseen in Aces history, impossible no longer seems so far away.