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• COMPLETE 2023 ALL-OVC TEAMS

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball senior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) and sophomore guard Isaiah Swope (Newburgh, Indiana) were honored with All-Ohio Valley Conference post-season honors today. Polakovich and Swope were named to the ten player first-team after being selected by the OVC head coaches and the communications directors.
 
The post-season conference honor is the second for Polakovich, who was named first team All-GLVC last year and the first for Swope.
 
Polakovich, the NCAA Division I leader in total rebounds (371), leads the Screaming Eagles and OVC with 12.8 rebounds per games. He also is averaging a double-double with 12.8 points per contest.
 
The senior forward has had 14 double-doubles, four games of 20-or-more rebounds, and 20 double-figure rebound contests. The three-time OVC Player of the Week had a season-best 27 points and 26 rebounds in his OVC-debut versus Southeast Missouri State University.
 
Swope earns his first-team honor after averaging a team-high 15.6 points per game, while dishing a team-high 3.6 assists and grabbing 2.5 rebounds per contest. The sophomore guard has reached double-digits in scoring in 23 of his 29 games this season and is averaging 24.8 points in the last four games of the regular season.
 
Polakovich, Swope, and the Eagles (16-15) starts their first NCAA I post-season run Wednesday in the OVC Tournament as the seventh seed at the Ford Center. USI is set to play Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, the sixth seed, in the 9 p.m. contest.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball senior forward Hannah Haithcock (Washington Courthouse, Ohio) earned All-Ohio Valley Conference first team honors, the OVC announced on Tuesday.
 
Haithcock was fourth in the OVC in overall scoring and first on the team with 14.8 points per game. The senior was sixth in scoring in league play at 14.9 points per contest. Haithcock was also ninth in overall rebounding in the league and third in OVC play, averaging 6.5 boards and 7.3 rebounds per outing, respectively. Her overall rebounding average was second on the team.
 
Additionally, Haithcock finished in the top-10 in the OVC in offensive and defensive rebounds, top-15 in field goal percentage, fifth in free-throw percentage, and eighth in blocks.
 
“Hannah showed from day one that she was going to be a great player in the Ohio Valley Conference,” USI Women’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Stein said. “Her consistency every game is something that stands out. We are so proud of Hannah and her accomplishments this year and in her career here at USI! Hannah will go down as one of the all-time great women’s basketball players here at the University of Southern Indiana.”
 
Haithcock became the 10^th USI player to reach at least 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds. In 99 games played for USI, Haithcock scored 1,252 points and 562 rebounds. Her career points total is good for 10^th all-time in USI history, while her rebounding numbers are good for 11^th all-time.
 
During her time in a USI uniform, Haithcock recorded 71 double-digit games, 10 20-point outings, 10 double-figure rebound efforts, and nine double-doubles. The Washington Courthouse, Ohio native dropped a career-best 31 points this season in a January 19 win at Lindenwood University.
 
The senior was named Preseason All-OVC in October before the 2022-23 season started. Haithcock also earned OVC Player of the Week honors back in December after recording 24 points and 13 rebounds in a win against Brescia University (Ky.).
 
Haithcock is the first-ever USI player to earn All-OVC accolades following the program’s first season in the Ohio Valley Conference and as an NCAA Division I program.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Evansville fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike/Olney Central) was named the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Player of the Week on Monday by the conference office after being a driving force offensively last week to help the Purple Aces to a series victory over Eastern Michigan.

Hug hit .667 (8-for-12) while posting a 1.083 slugging percentage and .778 on-base percentage in four starts last week for UE.  He produced multi-hit games in three of UE’s four contests, including opening the week by going 2-for-3 with a walk at Kentucky.  Hug then exploded in the final two games of the series against Eastern Michigan to help power the Purple Aces to a pair of victories.

In Saturday’s 9-7 victory over EMU, Hug went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a two-run home run and four RBI.  He hit both a two-run home run and two-run double to power Evansville’s nine-run eighth inning.  In fact, Hug finished just a triple shy of the cycle, and if not for a runner in front of him during his two-run double in the eighth inning, he likely would have achieved that mark, as he had to be stopped at second with the lead runner stopping at third base on a ball down the right-field line.

On Sunday, Hug went 2-for-3 with two walks in UE’s 5-3 victory over Eastern Michigan, and he finished the series by reaching base safely in eight of his final nine plate appearances on the weekend, with six hits and two walks in nine trips to the plate.

Hug and the Purple Aces will return to action on Wednesday, when UE travels to Cape Girardeau, Missouri to take on preseason Ohio Valley Conference favorite Southeast Missouri State (2-6) in a mid-week contest.  First-pitch is set for 3 p.m.