EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer clinched a berth into the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Soccer Championship Tournament Sunday following a 2-0 home win in the regular season finale against Eastern Illinois University.

The Screaming Eagles’ seniors led the way for USI toward the 2-0 victory, as well as some timely plays by the defensive unit. USI made history Sunday, getting into the OVC Tournament field in their first season as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference and first year as an NCAA Division I program.
 
The Screaming Eagles started the match with a high level of energy in the attacking half. USI applied tight pressure on Eastern Illinois’ defense through the attacking front of the lineup. The early pressure resulted in three shots for the Screaming Eagles within the first 15 minutes.
 
Midway into the first half, the Panthers started to find their footing in the attacking half and gain some control of the possession. Both teams had to deal with strong wind gusts throughout the afternoon. The wind gusts affected most of the passes played into the air.
 
The Screaming Eagles found the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead in the 39^th minute. Coming off a long throw-in in the attacking third, graduate student defender Elizabeth Lippert (Lexington, Kentucky) tapped the ball back toward the top of the box, and senior defender Madison Crawford (O’Fallon, Missouri) struck the ball with a one-time touch into the lower right corner of the goal. For Crawford, it was her first goal of the season and the second of her career.
 
USI’s 1-0 advantage carried into halftime, where Southern Indiana outshot Eastern Illinois 6-1 at the break. USI had three shots on goal in the first half to go along with three corner kicks.
 
The offensive momentum continued for USI early in the second half. Senior midfielder Jill DiTusa (St. Charles, Illinois) swung the ball in from the wide right and scored USI’s second goal of the match in the 49^th minute. The goal was DiTusa’s second of the season and the 16^th of her career. With 16 career goals, DiTusa moved into a tie for 11^th all-time in USI history. Additionally, the two points from the goal moved DiTusa into sole possession of 13^th all-time in the USI record books for career points with 37 points.
 
The Panthers kept fighting in the match, as Eastern Illinois had two good chances on the same possession with 16 minutes remaining in the contest. Eastern Illinois made a run from the left side of the box and crossed it toward the near post, where USI’s graduate student defender Mia Rose Daly (Haiku, Hawaii) cleared the ball from the post. Shortly after, the Panthers continued their aggression in the attacking half with a chance in the box. Just as it seemed that the ball was going to cross the goal line, sophomore defender Maggie Duggan (Defiance, Missouri) kicked the ball away from the goal line and kept USI’s 2-0 lead intact.
 
The Screaming Eagles and the defense held strong the rest of the way for the 2-0 win, halting any pushback from the Eastern Illinois attack in the late minutes.
 
In the match, USI outshot EIU 8-5 and 5-3 in shots on goal. Eastern Illinois had four corner kicks and USI had three.
 
Crawford and DiTusa tallied the two goals for USI, as DiTusa led USI on the day with two shots. Lippert had an assist with the goal by Crawford. In goal, senior goalkeeper Maya Etienne (Midland, Michigan) made three saves.
 
With the win, USI secured a berth into the Ohio Valley Conference Soccer Championship Tournament, starting with an opening-round matchup Friday at 4 p.m. The Screaming Eagles will take on familiar foe Lindenwood University from the campus of Southeast Missouri State University, who will host the 8-seed versus 5-seed on Friday and take on the winner next Sunday. Lindenwood finished fifth in the OVC standings and tied USI 1-1 in their regular season meeting in mid-October.
 
Matches in the opening weekend of the OVC Championship Tournament will air live on ESPN+.
 

Evansville, IN.:  In front of almost 5,000 fans for their first home game of the 2022-23 season, the Thunderbolts battled their way to a 4-3 win over the Knoxville Ice Bears at Ford Center on Saturday night.  The Thunderbolts next home game will be on Tuesday, October 25^th against the Vermilion County Bobcats at 10:00am CT.  For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2658), go to EvansvilleThunderbolts.com, or visit the Ford Center Ticket Office.

The Thunderbolts dominated Knoxville early, outshooting the Ice Bears at one point 12-1, however Knoxville goaltender Tom Aubrun kept the game scoreless before Knoxville broke through to take a late 1-0 lead, as Brett Ouderkirk scored a power play goal at 16:59.  Evansville responded late to tie the game, as Fredrik Wink scored from Kristaps Nimanis and Hayden Hulton at 19:23 to round out a 1-1 score through one period.  Only 45 seconds into the second period, Mathieu Cloutier scored from Hulton and Tanner Butler to give Evansville their first lead of the game, before Brady Fleurent scored to tie the game back up for Knoxville at 6:07.  After a slew of penalties which gave Evansville a 4-on-3 power play, Mike Ferraro scored at 11:31 from Butler and Matt Barron to give Evansville another lead, 3-2.

In the third period, Barron found the back of the net for his first professional goal, assisted by Aaron Huffnagle and Timothy Faulkner at 4:15 to extend Evansville’s lead to 4-2.  The Ice Bears battled back and pulled within a goal as Ouderkirk scored again at 8:52 to cut Evansville’s lead to 4-3.  The Ice Bears threatened to tie the game late with a power play and by pulling Aubrun, but Evansville’s defense got the job done and the Thunderbolts held on to win the game 4-3.

Barron led the way with a goal and assist, while Ferraro, Wink and Cloutier scored one goal each.  Hulton and Butler finished with two assists each, and Zane Steeves stopped 25 of 28 shots for his first win of the season. These two teams meet again on January 21^st at Knoxville Civic Coliseum.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Taking on the undefeated Missouri Valley Conference leaders, the University of Evansville volleyball team put up a fierce challenge but fell to Northern Iowa by a 3-1 final on Saturday evening inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

Pacing UE was Alondra Vazquez, who totaled a match-best 19 kills.  Giulia Cardona finished with 11.  Maddie Hawkins led the Purple Aces with 8 digs while Kora Ruff posted 32 assists.

Set 1 – UNI 25, UE 14

After the Panthers took a 4-2 lead out of the gate, UE came back with Alondra Vazquez picking up a pair of kills in a 3-0 stretch to give the Aces a 5-4 lead.  UNI stormed back in a big way as they outscored UE by a 13-2 score to go up 17-7.  From there, the Panthers finished with a 25-14 win.

Set 2 – UE 25, UNI 23

Evansville turned another 4-2 deficit into a lead with a Northern Iowa error giving the Aces a 5-4 edge.  Both teams enjoyed leads in the middle portion of the frame.  Madisyn Steele posted a kill to solidify an 11-9 UE advantage before the Panthers countered to go up 17-14.

Still down by three points at 21-18, Evansville made its move with Alondra Vazquez doing the damage.  Five kills over the final stretch saw her rally the squad to a 25-23 win to tie the match.

 

Set 3 – UNI 25, UE 15

Looking to retake the lead in the contest, Northern Iowa stormed out to a 7-1 lead.  Evansville got as close as four points (8-4), but the Panthers answered once again as they extended the lead to 18-10 before winning the set by 10 tallies.

Set 4 – UNI 25, UE 19

Working to force a decisive fifth set, the Purple Aces had a nice start as they took multiple early 1-point leads and would take the first multi-point advantage when Vazquez picked up a kill to put UE up 9-7.  The Panthers fended off the challenge and took their first edge at 10-9 and would push their lead to 15-10.  From there, they held off a late challenge to take the match on the strength of a 25-19 decision.

Road matches at Valparaiso and UIC are up next for the Aces.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Junior outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) recorded a career-high 26 kills despite University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (1-21, 1-10 OVC) ending the road stint with a 3-2 (29-31, 17-25, 25-11, 25-18, 10-15) loss to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (7-18, 4-8 OVC) Saturday night at Jack Stephens Center. The Screaming Eagles were down 2-0 before forcing a fifth set with a late comeback.
 
Despite holding a late lead, USI watched Little Rock steal an opening set win, 31-29. The Eagles kicked off the frame with a 5-0 run that included four Trojan attacking errors and a kill from Anderson. Little Rock would later threaten USI’s lead after the Eagles had five straight attacking errors to tie the set at 12 apiece. However, USI turned things around after a monster kill from sophomore outside/right side hitter Abby Bednar (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and a service ace from sophomore outside hitter Abby Weber (Fishers, Indiana) to make it a two-point Eagles’ advantage. USI was able to push the lead even further and issued a set point at 24-19 before Little Rock stormed back and scored six straight points and forced extra play. The Eagles could not converge on a one-point lead and watched the Trojans throw down a kill and an ace to take the 1-0 match lead. USI outhit Little Rock in the first game with 14 kills compared to 12 kills.
 
An early Trojans lead ends with a 25-17 Eagles second-set loss. Little Rock went on an 8-3 stint that caught USI off guard before Weber’s kill put the Eagles back in the game. Before USI knew it, Little Rock doubled up the Eagles by taking a 16-8 advantage. USI was able to threaten by cutting the deficit to six before the Trojans tallied five of the last nine points to seal the Eagles’ fate and extend to a 2-0 match advantage. Anderson recorded her 10th double-double in the second frame, finishing the set with 13 kills and 10 digs.
 
The Eagles put on a clinic in the third game, rolling past the Trojans, 25-11. The set started with an 8-2 USI lead that saw six attacking errors from Little Rock. Despite the Trojans cutting the deficit to five, the Eagles went on a 7-0 stint that made it 15-3. Bednar highlighted the run with a pair of aces. With a 16-7 gap, USI went on another run that resulted in a 21-7 advantage. The Trojans were able to add four more points before the Eagles took care of business and earned their first win of the match. USI had 11 kills off 30 attempts which equals a .267 hitting percentage.

Another dominant performance from the Eagles lifts them to a 25-18 fourth-set win and ties the match at two apiece. USI jumped out to an 8-6 lead with the help of a pair of Weber kills and an Anderson ace. From there, the Eagles never gave up the lead again despite the Trojans’ efforts on offense. USI recorded a match-high 15 kills in the fourth game with just three errors to produce a match-high .316 attacking percentage. This was the first time this season that the Eagles came back from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth set.
 
The final frame ended with a 15-10 loss for USI and ended their miraculous comeback. The set started with a 4-0 Little Rock run until Anderson’s one of four kills in the set to stop the bleeding. The Eagles were doubled up 8-4 before sophomore middle hitter Paris Downing (Avon, Indiana) added a kill that cut the deficit to two. A service ace from sophomore defensive specialist/outside hitter Anna Ballengee (Montgomery, Indiana) kept USI alive before Little Rock tacked on the final points to win the match.
 
Three Eagles nabbed double-doubles in the match. Anderson earned 26 kills and 18 digs while Weber tallied 11 kills and 14 digs with sophomore setter Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indiana) producing 22 assists and 20 digs. Ballengee led the team with three aces while Bednar and Downing added five blocks each.
 
USI totaled 56 kills, 52 assists, and seven aces, which were all match highs. The Eagles’ defense put up 82 digs and nine blocks. Despite losing the match, USI produced 72 points compared to Little Rock’s 68 points.
 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Swimming & Diving fell to Quincy University on Saturday, 135-125. The Screaming Eagles took home five first place finishes on the day.
 
Freshman Caleb Davis (Spring, Texas) led the way for the Eagles. Davis took first place in the 100 and 200-yard Breaststroke. Freshman Creed Loy (Knoxville, Tennessee) also took first place in the 1000-yard Freestyle.
 
Freshman Lane Pollock (Booonville, Indiana) took home both diving events for USI. Pollock recorded a 215.85 in the 1-meter and a 240.15 in the 3-meter.
 
Other Top Men’s Results:
1000-yard Freestyle: 10:42.46 (1st) – Loy
100-yard Breaststroke: 1:01.38 (1st) – Davis
1-mtr Diving: 215.85 (1st) – Pollock
200-yard Breaststroke: 2:17.09 (1st) – Davis
3-mtr Diving: 240.15 (1st) – Pollock
 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Swimming & Diving were victorious in their meet against Quincy University on Saturday, 201-56. The Screaming Eagles were victorious in 12 events on the day.
 
The Eagles were led by freshman Kate Hilgarth (Indianapolis, Indiana) who won four events on the day. Hilgarth was a part of both the 400-yard Medley Relay and 200-yard Freestyle Relay teams. She also took first place in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke.
 
USI had four other swimmers win multiple events. Freshman Mattilynn Smith (Morgantown, Kentucky) took first in the 1000 and 500-yard freestyle events. Freshman Sarah-Catherine Dawson (Prospect, Kentucky) took home the 200-yard Butterfly. Freshman Hannah Gardner (Bowling Green, Kentucky) took first place in the 400-yard IM. Freshman Paige Neal (Owensboro, Kentucky) was a part of both of the 400-yard Medley Relay and 200-yard Freestyle Relay teams with Hilgarth. Dawson and Gardner were also a part of the 400-yard Medley Relay team.
 
Other Top Women’s Results:
400-yard Medley Relay: 4:10.70 (1st) – Hilgarth, Gardner, Dawson, Neal
1000-yard Freestyle: 11:02.98 (1^st) – Smith
100-yard Backstroke: 1:00.42 (1^st) – Hilgarth
100-yard Breaststroke: 1:14.71 (1^st) – freshman Erica Williamson (Knoxville, Tennessee)
200-yard Butterfly: 2:17.19 (1^st) – Dawson
1-mtr Diving: 173.40 (1^st) – freshman Autumn Turley (Hobart, Indiana)
200-yard Backstroke: 2:13.96 (1^st) – Hilgarth
500-yard Freestyle: 5:21.30 (1^st) – Smith
100-yard Butterfly: 1:02.99 (1^st) – freshman Elizabeth Busby (Madison, Alabama)
3-mtr Diving: 144.67 (1^st) – Turley
400-yard IM: 5:00.81 (1^st) – Gardner
200-yard Freestyle Relay: 1:43.61 (1^st) – Neal, freshman Emma Ettensohn (Tell City, Indiana), freshman Emily McIntosh (Huntertown, Indiana), Hilgarth