CARBONDALE, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Swimming & Diving collected an amazing 50 bests during the A3 Performance Invitational, including 31 season bests and 19 personal bests. The Screaming Eagles would finish sixth out of the six teams on the weekend with a score of 219, finishing behind Southern Illinois University, the University of Evansville, Eastern Illinois University, Bellarmine University, and Valparaiso University.
 
USI would also set new school records in 18 different events on the weekend, including two new events.
 
The Eagles would collect nine top-10 finishes along with four top-five finishes. Freshman Lane Pollock (Boonville, Indiand) took fourth in the 1-meter diving and third in the 3-meter diving. USI also took fifth in the 200-Yard Medley Relay and fourth in the 400-Yard Freestyle Relay.
 
Freshman Nihar Vitthanala (Flower Mound, Texas) led the Eagles in personal bests, finishing the weekend with three personal bests. Vitthanala earned new bests in the 50 and 100-Yard Freestyles and the 100-yard Butterfly. Freshmen Caleb Beaven (Newburgh, Indiana), Aakash Gorthi (Kalamazoo, Michigan), Gabriel Groves (New Carlisle, Indiana), and Colton Tang (Newburgh, Indiana) all finished with multiple personal bests alongside Vitthanala. Freshmen Gregory Benson (Plainfield, Illinois), Caleb Davis (Spring, Texas), Adam DePetro (Knoxville, Tennessee), Carson Faley (Dixon, Illinois), Connor Harden (Centennial, Colorado), Colin Lee (Lakeland, Tennessee), Creed Loy (Knoxville, Tennessee), and Grant VanWanzeele (Plainfield, Indiana) all recorded personal bests on the weekend.
 
Freshmen Colten Agdeppa (Redding, California), Jude Bragdon (Fishers, Indiana), Chris Brown (Mattawan, Michigan), and Jack Hannon (Lowell, Indiana) all led USI with three season bests each.
 
Other Top Men’s Results:
200-Yard Freestyle Relay: 1:25.48 (4th) – Sophomore Payton Buse (Lynnville, Indiana), Davis, Benson, Groves
200-yard IM: 2:01.64 (Personal Best) (21st) – Beaven
1-meter Diving: 206.25 points (4th) – Pollock
400-Yard Medley Relay: 3:31.60 (6th) – Groves, Davis, Benson, Buse
200-Yard Medley Relay: 1:35.33 (5th) – Groves, Davis, Benson, Buse
400-Yard IM: 4:24.36 (Personal Best) (17th) – Lee
100-Yard Butterfly: 51.08 (8th) – Agdeppa
200-Yard Freestyle: 1:43.73 (9th) – Faley
3-meter Diving: 230.90 points (3rd) – Pollock
800-Yard Freestyle Relay: 7:14.80 (6th) – Faley, Hannon, VanWanzeele, Harden
1650-Yard Freestyle: 17:28.01 (Personal Best) (11th) – VanWanzeele
100-Yard Freestyle: 47.68 (Personal Best) (13th) – Groves
200-Yard Butterfly: 1:57.47 (Personal Best) (18th) – Faley
400-Yard Freestyle: 3:09.85 (4th) – Davis, Groves, Faley, Buse
 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Vincennes University men’s and women’s Cross Country teams took part in the NJCAA Division I National Championships Saturday morning at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.

The No.16-ranked VU women’s team kicked off the day with the 5k and came away with a 16th place finish as a team.

The Trailblazer women were led by sophomore Daisie Kinnett (Wheatland, Ind.) who placed 47th overall with a time of 20:18.6.

Sophomore Hope Laughlin (Olney, Ill.) had a very impressive race to finish 87th with a time of 21:42.5.

Freshman Ada Peterman (Clay, Ill.) was right behind Laughlin at the finish line, coming in 89th with a time of 21:45.1.

Sophomore Brittany Page placed 110th with a finishing time of 22:25.3 and Makenna Pruett battled to place 132nd at 23:16.2.

“The course ran very slow today as a result of the heat and humidity in Florida,” VU Assistant Cross Country Coach Tyler Steigenga said. “Both teams went out conservatively and did a great job moving up throughout the race.”

“Daisie led the way for the women and managed to PR despite the tough conditions,” Steigenga added. “She moved up 31 places from the first split taken just after the mile to finish 47th. Hope also had a PR and moved up 38 places.”

The No. 13 VU men’s team improved on their final ranking at Nationals, placing 12th overall Saturday in the 8k.

The Trailblazers were led by Region 24 Champion sophomore Mathew Keitany (Kenya) who came away with a 42nd place finish at 26:34.8.

Sophomores Ernest Momodu (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Ian Boit (Kimilili, Kenya) were next across the line, with Momodu finishing 61st overall at 27:31.7 and Boit finishing 67th at 27:44.2.

Freshman Isaac Stanford (Flora, Ill.) and sophomore Trenton Faulkner (Wheatland, Ind.) round out the VU scorers with Stanford placing 91st at 28:47.4 and Faulkner 93rd at 28:49.8.

Sophomore Reed Lawless (Kouts, Ind.) placed 130th at 30:13.4 and freshman Sol O’Blenis (Amboy, Ind.) placed 161st at 31:31.9.

“Mathew led the men’s team, as he has all season,” Steigenga said. “He moved up 26 places over the race to finish 42nd. Ernest and Ian did a great job of working together for most of the race and moved up 42 and 35 places respectively to finish as our second and third runners. Trenton stepped up big as our fifth man today. He went from 142nd place after the first split to finishing 93rd overall, passing 49 runners. He had a great finish down the homestretch and gave everything he had to make sure we held our position.”

Members of the Trailblazer Cross Country teams will stick around Tallahassee for a few extra days to compete in the NJCAA Half Marathon Championships Tuesday, Nov. 15 at Miller’s Landing Road.

VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 23 Vincennes University Trailblazers closed out a very tough weekend schedule Saturday night on the final day of the McDonald’s Classic at the P.E. Complex, picking up a big 81-57 win over No. 16-ranked Northeast Mississippi.

The No. 23 Trailblazers grabbed control of the game early in this NJCAA Top-25 matchup, using a quick 11-0 run to take an early 13-5 lead.

Vincennes would expand their lead to 20-8 midway through the first half as the Tigers looked to chip away at the deficit heading into the half but could only cut the margin to 10.

VU headed into the locker room at the break with a 34-24 lead, aided by an impressive 11-point, five-rebound performance off the bench by freshman Kris King (Washington, D.C.).

Vincennes would cruise to start the second half, growing their lead to 20 before Northeast Mississippi would get back to within 14.

VU helped put the game away late in the second half with an 8-0 scoring run as Vincennes ended the night with an 81-57 win to improve to 6-0 on the season.

“I thought we were really good defensively early,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “I thought we had good ball movement. We were better offensively. We were sharper early in the game and got up 20-8. Defensively we were solid and on the spot. That was really the story of the game. Then it got a little chippy later and I thought our guys handled that well. Northeast Mississippi is going to get physical and they should and they did. We’re learning through it. There were some spots where we didn’t play quite as well in that but overall, we were fine.”

“We kept the game at double figures at the half,” Franklin added. “Kept the game in double figures throughout the second half. When we got up to 20, I thought we exhaled just a hair and let them grind us and get to the basket and they cut it to 14. Then we regrouped and pushed them back out.”

“This is a really good win for right now in the year for us,” Franklin said. “Obviously we are still a new team trying to figure it all out. We’ve played six games in 12 days and we’ve played four teams that very well could beat you. We’ve played Kankakee, Columbia State, Macomb last night, who I thought was sharp and ready for that game and got worn down as the game went on. Then today we were playing a team that has been ranked for the last two or three years, is ranked again and has a lot of talent and ability.”

“Our guys should be proud of their effort,” Franklin added. “There are always going to be ups and downs. There are ups and downs even if you are a veteran who has gone through everything. We are going to get a little up and down right now. Just like last night, the King twins last night were not nearly as good as they are as players. But I thought both of them bounced back and were very good tonight. We’ve got to make sure that the valleys are not quite as deep and we make sure we stay closer to the peaks. But that’s all part of it, especially when you are not playing ‘gimme’ games, which we are not. It’s hard to be on all the time, especially when we don’t have a whole lot of practice time right now.”

“We’ve got a new team, then we start playing all of these games and even when we do have practice how hard can you go because you are still trying to recover from the game you just played,” Franklin said. “We probably need a little practice time but we are not going to get a ton. We’ll get tomorrow off. Monday needs to be a really good practice. That’s when we have time and we need to get sharpened up. But I’m proud of them. We are going to keep pushing them, that’s what we do. We are going to keep demanding of them. That’s what we have always done and will continue to do. But I think this is a good group. I think they are good guys and good people and I think they have potential to be a really good team. I think everybody on our team has the potential to be a good player. Some days it will be one, some days it will be another, but we will always play the guys that we think give us the best chance to win. We’ve had some guys emerge early. But you never know what it will be next week.”

The Trailblazers were led off the bench by Kris King who finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and a pair of assists.

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers suffered their second loss of the weekend to a top-25 opponent Saturday afternoon in the final game of the VU Classic, falling to No. 25 Three Rivers 70-53.

The Lady Blazers held tough with the highly ranked Raiders, drawing an even 16-16 game through the first 10 minutes of play.

Vincennes continued to battle in the second quarter before Three Rivers closed out the half on a 5-0 run to take a 33-27 lead into the locker room.

Three Rivers grew their lead in the third quarter to 13 after an 8-0 scoring run, before the Lady Blazers rallied back to cut the deficit to nine heading into the final quarter of play.

Vincennes was within 10 points late in the fourth quarter but the Lady Raiders capitalized at the free throw line to pull away as the Blazers fell 70-53.

VU was led offensively by sophomore guard Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.) who connected on an impressive five three-pointers on her way to 19 points and four assists.

Freshman Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France) completed her first collegiate double-double Saturday, ending the game with 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, five of which came on the offensive glass.

Freshman Maycee Lange (Vincennes, Ind.) also reached double figures, ending with 10 points, four assists and three rebounds.

The Lady Trailblazers will look to get back on track to start next week when VU travels to Detroit to take on Wayne County Community College Monday, Nov. 14. Tip-off time for that game is set for 5:30 p.m. eastern.

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The men’s 100-Yard Freestyle record at the University of Evansville has stood since February 1999, when former Olympian Nikola Kalabic set the standard during a Hall of Fame career.  On Saturday night, senior Riccardo Di Domenico (Johannesburg, South Africa) broke it while leading off the men’s 400-Yard Freestyle Relay to cap a great weekend for UE at the A3 Performance Invitational in Carbondale, Illinois.

Di Domenico posted a time of 44.77 to lead UE to a 400 Free Relay time of 3:01.49 to place second overall.  His time beat Kalabic’s mark of 44.87, set on February 27, 1999.  It was the longest-standing swimming record on both the men’s and women’s side at UE.

“What a tremendous effort!” said UE swimming and diving head coach Stuart Wilson.  “Not only by Riccardo, but also by our entire team this weekend.  The team did an incredible job this entire weekend!

“We had a few school records this week, and a lot of swimmers either posted a personal-best mark, or were right near it this weekend.  This speaks well for our championship meet in the spring!  We’ll enjoy this weekend’s effort for now, but it is already time to get back to work on getting even better now.”

Di Domenico’s record came in the meet’s final event, and capped a Saturday which saw UE post 13 top five finishes in the ‘A Finals,’ including two individual event victories.

Junior Jackson Caudill (Mt. Sterling, Ky./Montgomery County) began Saturday’s final round with an event victory in the 1,650-Yard Freestyle, winning by over 30 seconds with a time of 15:48.84.  Fellow junior Alon Baer (Gesher HaZiv, Israel) also remained undefeated in the Breaststroke events this year, as he won the 200 Breast in a time of 1:59.76.

Both 400 Free Relay teams finished second posting times of 3:01.49 on the men’s side and 3:31.14 on the women’s side.  Senior Sonsoles Aguayo (Jerez, Spain) finished second in the women’s 100 Free, posting a time of 52.64 to rank as the 10th-fastest female swimmer in UE history in the event.  Fellow senior Maya Cunningham (Yakima, Wash./Eisenhower) also placed second in the women’s 200-Yard Butterfly with a time of 2:03.79.

Senior Sarah Jahns (Lilburn, Ga./Parkview) and junior Iryna Tsesiul (Minsk, Belarus) finished third and fourth in the women’s 200-Yard Backstroke, posting times of 2:00.97 and 2:02.68 respectively.  Sophomores Carlos Souto (A Coruna, Spain) and Benjamin Hasanovic (Innsbruck, Austria) also finished third and fourth in the men’s 200 Breaststroke with times of 2:04.37 and 2:04.72, with Hasanovic entering into UE’s career top 10 as the sixth-fastest male swimmer in the event.

Sophomore Patrik Vilbergsson (Kopavogur, Iceland) posted a fourth-place finish in the men’s 200 Back with a time of 1:49.52.  Di Domenico also posted a fifth-place finish in the regular men’s 100 Free, while sophomore Mari Müller (Zurich, Switzerland) placed fifth in the women’s 200-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 2:19.10, which ranks her third-fastest all-time at UE.

As teams, UE placed second on both the men’s and women’s sides in the six-team meet.  The UE men scored 656 points, while the women posted a score of 529.5.

A majority of the UE swimmers will now be off from competition until January 14, 2023, when UE hosts Missouri State, UIC and Bellarmine at the Deaconess Aquatic Center on “Senior Day.” The divers will return to action next on Thursday, December 8 at IUPUI, while a few Purple Aces will compete in the upcoming Toyota U.S. Open after Thanksgiving.

Aces give Billikens a fight in road contest

 ST. LOUIS – Holding a 4-point lead near the midway point of the second half, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team gave Saint Louis all it could handle before a 26-2 run lifted the Billikens to an 83-65 win on Saturday inside Chaifetz Arena.

“Saint Louis is a very physical team with great quickness and we struggled with that early on,” UE head coach David Ragland said.  “I am proud of how we responded and showed that we can play with anyone.  We want to get better every single day and stay connected with everything that we do.”

Yacine Toumi posted the first double-double of his career as he totaled 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.  Antoine Smith Jr. scored 11 while Kenny Strawbridge Jr. registered eight.  Five Billikens finished in double figures led by Gibson Jimerson, who tallied 18.  Javon Pickett notched a double-double with 11 points and 13 caroms.  Yuri Collins also picked up a double-double with 13 assists and 12 points.

Saint Louis jumped out to a 5-0 lead when Kenny Strawbridge Jr. got the Aces on the board with a basket at the 18:06 mark.  The Billikens kept the pressure on, draining six of their first eight attempts to extend the lead to 14-2.  Just past the 5-minute mark, Preston Phillips turned a steal into the first 3-pointer of the evening for Evansville.

With 8:51 remaining in the half, the Billikens hit a free throw that pushed their lead to its highest point – 28-14.  An unbelievable stretch saw UE drained six of its next eight attempts while outscoring the Billikens by a 19-4 margin on the way to its first lead of the night.  Following a pair of free throws by Gage Bobe, Antoine Smith Jr. nailed a triple to make it a 28-19 game with 8:08 showing in the opening period.

Marvin Coleman II added one from outside and Yacine Toumi followed it up with a drive to the basket that cut the deficit to just four with 6:32 left in the half.  Javon Pickett converted a layup to push the lead back to six points just over a minute later, but the Aces kept rolling.  Bobe highlighted a 7-0 run with a triple with Strawbridge capping it off with a pair of free throws.  Those tallies put Evansville in front – 33-32 – with 3:36 showing on the clock.

Fred Thatch Jr. ended the Evansville rally with a triple, but the Aces did not relent.  Yacine Toumi connected on a second-chance basket in the final minute and Smith hit a triple to complete the first half scoring and send UE to the locker room up by a 39-37 margin.

Strawbridge opened the second half with two quick baskets that put the Aces in front at 43-40.  Toumi knocked down a pair of free throws at the 16:35 mark to make it a 2-possession UE lead at 47-43.  Five minutes later, a turnaround jumper by Toumi made it a 4-point game once again with a 55-51 score.

At that point, Saint Louis took control.  The ensuing 10-minute stretch saw the Billikens embark on a 26-2 run as they put the game out of reach at 77-57.  Late scores by Grant Tichenor and Chris Moncrief put the final touches on an 83-65 final.

The home opener is set for Wednesday evening when the Aces welcome Southeast Missouri State to the Ford Center for a 7 p.m. contest.

USI falls to SIUE, 3-2

Edwardsville, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (1-28, 1-17 OVC) finishes the 2022 campaign with a 3-2 loss (19-25, 29-27, 19-25, 25-23, 10-15) to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (13-16, 8-10 OVC) Saturday afternoon at First Community Arena. The Screaming Eagles earned one win in 18 league matches to claim 10th in the Ohio Valley Conference.
 
A late comeback from SIUE proves to be costly for USI as the Eagles fall 25-19 in the opening frame. It was a good start to the match for USI, going up 3-0 after three straight kills. Junior outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) provided two of the three kills to lift the Eagles into an early lead. After going up 8-5, USI witnessed SIUE go on a 14-4 surge that put the Eagles back, 19-12. USI was able to get back a couple of points after a couple of Cougars’ miscues, but it was not enough as SIUE strolls to a first-set victory. Both sides provided big offensive numbers as the Eagles had 13 kills and a .235 hitting percentage while the Cougars added 13 kills and a .387 hitting percentage.
 
USI used its offense to slide past SIUE in the second set, 29-27. The Eagles jumped ahead of the Cougars, 6-3, after a pair of early kills from Anderson while sophomore outside hitter Abby Weber (Fishers, Indiana) and sophomore middle hitter Paris Downing (Avon, Indiana) each provided one kill to contribute to the early lead. SIUE retaliated with a 6-0 stint that cost USI the lead. The Eagles were able to catch up and tie it at 11 before a big 4-0 run put USI back in the driver’s seat, 15-13. After back-and-forth action, the Eagles and Cougars had it knotted up at 25 before USI stole the show by nabbing four kills to win the set. Sophomore outside/right side hitter Abby Bednar (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) threw down three of the final four kills to help the Eagles win the frame. As a team, USI put up 16 kills, the most for the Eagles in the match.
 
USI could not catch up to the Cougars, dropping the third set, 25-19. Despite taking a 5-4 lead, USI watched SIUE steal the lead, 8-5, after a quick 4-0 stint. The Eagles were able to tie it up after putting up three-straight points before the Cougars regained the lead and never looked back. USI had a chance to tie it at 15 until SIUE went on another 4-0 run that helped decide the set. Both sides traded off points until the Cougars ended the frame with a set-sealing ace to go up 2-1 in the match.
 
A strong effort and late comeback forced pressure on SIUE as USI won the fourth frame, 25-23. The Eagles spotted a 4-0 gap early to lift themselves to an 8-7 lead before the Cougars tallied a 6-0 surge to take the 13-8 advantage. Down by five, USI used short spurts to cut the deficit and later take the lead, 19-18. In the middle of that stint was a 4-0 run that had four-straight SIUE offensive errors. The Eagles’ offense provided the eight final points off seven kills and one ace with sophomore setter Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indiana) contributing three of the kills.
 
In the final frame, USI allowed an early SIUE lead that ended in a 15-10 loss. Tied at two, the Cougars went on a short 4-0 run that proved to be costly for the Eagles. USI was able to get within two again before SIUE extended the lead of a 3-0 surge that doubled up the Eagles, 10-5. Down by five again, USI tried to get the offense rolling after a kill from Weber and an ace from sophomore defensive specialist/outside hitter Anna Ballengee (Montgomery, Indiana) to cut the deficit to just three, but it was not enough as the Cougars struck down a pair of kills to seal the Eagles’ fate.
 
Bednar led the team with 18 kills and three aces while Anderson provided 15 kills and a season-high 20 digs. Weber also finished with double-digit kills and digs with 10 kills and 11 digs while Ballengee recorded 11 digs. Sobieralski tallied an impressive 45 assists and career-high 23 digs while sophomore middle blocker Lauren O’Neill (Covington, Indiana) put up a match-high eight blocks.
 
USI ended the match with 56 kills, 53 assists, and seven aces along with 75 digs and 14 blocks. SIUE recorded 70 kills, 65 assists, and nine aces to go with 77 digs and five blocks.