Entering the fall of 2019, not too many were giving the University of Evansville volleyball team a chance to rise up the Missouri Valley Conference standings. The Purple Aces were coming off of a 4-14 showing in league play in 2018 and had not made the conference tournament since 2008. Fernando Morales was preparing for his first season as the head coach of the Aces, on an interim basis at that point, after serving as an assistant the year before.
With those odds factoring in, it seemed like an uphill climb, but Coach Morales and his team welcomed the challenge.