UE falls by 3-1 final

 CARBONDALE, Ill. – Sophomore Giulia Cardona registered a career-high 25 kills as the University of Evansville volleyball team fell to Southern Illinois by a 3-1 final on Saturday night.

Cardona added six digs and an ace in the contest.  Alondra Vazquez picked up 21 kills.  Blakeley Freeman and Kora Ruff led the way with 12 digs while Ruff had 37 assists.

Set 1 – SIU 25, UE 23

Giulia Cardona notched an early kill as part of a 3-0 run to open the match.  Southern Illinois stormed back with five in a row before going up 11-6.  Blakeley Freeman picked up a service ace to help the Aces make it a 12-10 deficit, but SIU fended off the challenge to take a 19-14 advantage.

Refusing to give up, Evansville used an 8-0 run to take the lead.  Consecutive kills by Cardona got things going while Alondra Vazquez picked up a kill and an ace.  What finished up as a 9-1 run resulted in a 23-20 edge for UE.  Southern Illinois did not let UE score again as they recorded the next five points to rally for the win.

Set 2 – UE 30, SIU 28

Madisyn Steel recorded an ace while Cardona chipped in two more kills to put the Aces up 6-3.  SIU came back to tie it at 6-6 prior to taking an 8-7 lead.  Laura Ruiz provided an ace that put UE in front at 12-11, but SIU responded once again to take a 17-13 advantage.  The lead for SIU remained at four (22-18) when a quick spurt by Evansville cut the deficit in half.

The Salukis quickly scored a pair to have set points at 24-20, but Evansville never gave up and took advantage of three SIU errors with Vazquez adding a kill to tie it at 24-24.  Both teams battled into extra point with UE wrestling away the win by a 30-28 final.

Set 3 – SIU 25, UE 23

UE grabbed an 11-8 lead when Steele had a kill that was the start of a 3-0 stretch.  SIU came back to tie it at 13-13 before Emilee Scheumann put the lead back in the Aces hands.  Another kill from Cardona solidified the Evansville advantage at 22-19 and it looked as if the Aces would pick up another win.  Once again, SIU came back to finish the frame on a 6-1 rally to take a 2-1 match lead.

Set 4 – SIU 25, UE 19

After taking a 4-1 lead to open the fourth set, Southern Illinois did not look back.  Their start extended to a 7-2 edge before UE worked its way back into the contest when a pair of Vazquez kills made it a 12-10 score.  Evansville did its best to stay within striking distance but could not get over the hump as SIU clinched the match.  Next weekend, UE plays host to Belmont and Murray State.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (1-25, 1-14 OVC) held a 2-0 match lead before Tennessee State University (14-15, 8-8 OVC) stormed back and defeated the Screaming Eagles, 3-2 (25-22, 25-18, 22-25, 24-26, 7-15), Saturday afternoon at Screaming Eagles Arena. This was the final home match of the season for USI.
 
The Eagles kicked off the match with a 25-22 opening-set win. TSU found itself up 3-0 to start the frame before a quick 4-0 run from USI turned the tables. Junior outside/right side hitter/setter Katherine Koch (Belleville, Illinois) was able to start the stint with a kill before sophomore middle hitter Paris Downing (Avon, Indiana) finished it with a kill. The Lady Tigers fired back with three straight points to make it 6-4. Down 8-6, USI put on another 4-0 run that gave the Eagles the 10-8 advantage until TSU turned around and put up five of the next six points to regain the lead. With the set tied at 15, the Lady Tigers tallied four straight points before USI recorded seven of the next eight points to hold onto a 22-20 lead with four of the seven points coming from kills. The Eagles ended the set with a 3-0 stint off three straight Lady Tigers’ errors to give USI its first win of the match. The Eagles put up a match-best 16 kills and two errors with a .255 hitting percentage.
 
An early USI lead gave the Eagles the 25-18 victory and a 2-0 match lead. USI went on an early surge to begin the set, going up 9-4. The Eagles were able to put up three more with the help of a kill from sophomore outside/right side hitter Abby Bednar (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) to double up TSU, 12-6. USI finished the set by securing eight of the final 12 points to win the set and take the 2-0 match lead. Downing was able to nab two kills in the final stint.  
 
The third set found USI in a 25-22 deficit and gave TSU their first win of the match. The Lady Tigers held onto the lead the entire game after jumping out to an 11-6 lead. USI was able to get back into it after a pair of TSU mistakes and a kill from sophomore middle blocker Lauren O’Neill (Covington, Indiana) to cut the make it 15-12. Before the Eagles knew it, the Lady Tigers had a 21-15 advantage and ended the set with the win despite USI scoring seven of the last 11 points.
 
Late surges from the Lady Tigers put the Eagles on their heels and gave TSU the 26-24 fourth-set win. Down 6-3, USI was able to tack on three straight points after two TSU attack errors and a kill from junior outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) to tie the set at six apiece. The Lady Tigers pushed forward and broke out a 17-12 gap on the Eagles. USI retaliated with a massive 8-1 run that gave them a 20-18 advantage. Sophomore setter Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indianapolis) and Anderson recorded two kills and an ace each during the stint. However, TSU came back and took down USI in extra rallies to tie the match at two. In the final portion of the fourth, the Eagles could only tally four points compared to the Lady Tigers’ eight.
 
TSU brought the energy in the final frame, winning the set 15-7 to complete the comeback over USI. The set started with a quick 8-1 run by the Lady Tigers before a Bednar kill stopped the surge momentarily until TSU tacked on a couple more points to make it 10-2. Another Bednar kill was the only offense that USI got out of the final frame as the Lady Tigers stormed back against the Eagles to win the match.
 
Three Eagles earned double-doubles in the match with Anderson leading the group with 20 kills, three aces, and a season-high 18 digs. Bednar secured 14 kills and 13 digs while Sobieralski nabbed a career-high 47 assists and 14 digs. Also performing well was Downing who added 12 kills and six digs. O’Neill led the team with four blocks. One note about the match is that senior manager Sabrina Yamashita (Evansville, Indiana) was activated and able to play in all five sets in her final home match of the season as an Eagle.
 
USI produced 55 kills, 51 assists, and a match-high six aces with 72 digs and six blocks. TSU ended the night with 69 kills, 65 assists, and two aces along with 92 digs and 13 blocks.

MOBERLY, Mo. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers held on Saturday afternoon to pick up their second win of the season, fighting off a late comeback attempt to win 82-77 over Danville Area Community College on the final day of the Orschlen Classic at Moberly Area.

Vincennes fell behind early Saturday, with the Jaguars racing out to an early six point first-quarter lead.

VU would rally back with the help of an 8-0 scoring run to take the lead with just over two minutes to go in the opening quarter and take a 23-17 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.

The Lady Blazers defense stood strong in the second quarter, holding Danville Area to just five points in the period as Vincennes built on their lead to head into the locker room with a 17-point advantage.

Vincennes held strong in the third quarter with sophomore Maycee Lange (Vincennes, Ind.) scoring 10 of VU’s 22 points in the quarter as VU held a 61-46 lead heading into the fourth.

Danville Area’s shooting began to come alive in the fourth quarter, chipping away at the lead until the Jaguars were within four points with two minutes to go.

Danville Area would make it a one-possession game late, before sophomore Chanice Willis (Champaign, Ill.) put the game away with a pair of free throws as VU came away with the 82-77 victory.

The Lady Blazers were led offensively by the outside shooting of sophomore Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.). Newsom would connect on six three-pointers on her way to 18 points on the day.

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer men’s basketball team picked up their third win of the season Saturday night leading the entire way over Columbia State Community College 76-51 in the final game of the Kiwanis Classic.

The Trailblazers wasted little time grabbing the early momentum Saturday night, jumping out to a quick 16-8 lead.

Vincennes would extend their lead to 12 before Columbia State hit a late free throw to head into the locker room trailing 36-25.

VU took complete control of the game in the second half, using a 16-3 scoring run to jump out to a 21-point lead.

Vincennes would continue to add to their lead throughout the game as VU closed out their third win in five days with a 76-51 win over Columbia State.

“I thought this was a nice win,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “I thought the win Tuesday night against Kankakee was a nice win. We’ve got three Division I wins this week. There are not a whole lot of teams in the country that have more than that.”

“We were tested in a lot of ways tonight that our team had not seen,” Franklin added. “Columbia State was big, strong and physical. The press you defensively, they force you to make shots, they break you down. They are really physical on the glass. They may be as good of a rebounding team as we will face this year. The rebounds were even tonight, which we never want to be even rebounding the ball, so that was a battle of strength and strength.”

“I’m proud of our guys,” Franklin said. “I thought we had a good week. There are a lot of things that we have to get better, but I think if you watch this team, you can see where it looks a lot like the nine years before last year here. It looks like the last 23 or 24 years before last year that I’ve had as a coach. I see the progression, it’s just whether they keep their eye on the prize or not. Which so far it looks like they are and hopefully they will. If they do then this team has tremendous potential because we’re new. We are still learning. They are learning every little thing right now. We’ve got a long way to go to get as good as this team could be. If this team can get near as good as they could be, I think we can contend with anybody.”

VU was led offensively by a big outside shooting night by freshman Kris King (Washington, D.C.). King would hit six out of seven three-point shots on his way to a team-high 18 points. King also played a big role defensively for the Blazers, finishing with three steals on the night.

Sophomore Tasos Cook (Columbus, Ohio) picked up where he left off last night, scoring 10 of his 17 points in the first half, while also matching King’s three steals defensively.

Sophomore Caleb Johnson (N. Preston, Nova Scotia) was the third VU scorer to reach double figures, ending the night with10 points and four rebounds.

Sophomore Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind.) and freshman Kent King (Washington, D.C.) rounded out the VU starting lineup Saturday night, with Jackson ending with eight points, six rebounds and three blocks, with King finishing with six points, six rebounds and four assists.

Freshmen James Locke IV (Spencer, Okla.) and Kale Gaither (Madisonville, Ky.) did the bulk of the scoring off the bench for Vincennes Saturday, with Locke adding eight points and three assists, while Gaither finished with seven points, a team-high five assists and three rebounds.