EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Swimming & Diving defeated Valparaiso University, 188-92, in the Screaming Eagles’ first official meet Saturday afternoon at the USI Aquatic Center. The Eagles, who established a new program record nearly every time someone touched the water, won 14 of the 16 events.
 
The Screaming Eagles were led by freshman Hannah Gardner (Bowling Green, Kentucky) and freshman Sarah-Catherine Dawson (Prospect, Kentucky) who had three firsts each. Gardner took the 100-yard breaststroke, the 200-yard breaststroke, and was a part of USI’ 200-yard Medley Relay.
 
Dawson joined Gardner on the winning 200-yard medley relay team, while also taking first in the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard butterfly.
 
Other Top Women’s Results:
200-yard Medley Relay: 1:53.78 (1^st) — Garner, Dawson, freshman Makana Goss (Noblesville, Indiana); freshman Paige Neal (Owensboro, Kentucky)
1000-Yard Freestyle: 11:00.85 (1^st) — freshman Mattilyn Smith (Morgantown, Kentucky)
200-Yard Freestyle: 2:04.55 (1^st) — freshman Adele Schnautz (Evansville, Indiana)
100 -Yard Backstroke: 1:01.44 (1^st) — freshman Katie Hilgarth (Indianapolis, Indiana)
100-Yard Breaststroke: 1:11.83 (1^st) — Gardner
200-Yard Buttlerfly: 2:14.65 (1^st) — Dawson
50-Yard Freestyle: 25.74 (1^st) — Neal
1-mtr Diving: 173.40 (1^st) — freshman Autumn Turley (Hobart, Indiana)
200-Yard Backstroke: 2:14.30 (1^st) — Goss
200-Yard Breaststroke: 2:34.20 (1^st) — Gardner
500-Yard Freestyle: 5:21.81 (1^st) — Smith
100-Yard Butterfly: 1:00.85 (1^st) — Dawson
3-mtr Diving: 155.92 (1^st) — Turley
200-Yard IM: 2:17.08 (1^st) — Schnautz

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Juniors McKenna Cavanaugh (New Albany, Indiana) and Lauren Greiwe (West Harrison, Indiana) each posted top-80 finishes to lead University of Southern Indiana Women’s Cross Country to a 25th-place finish out of 41 teams in the gold race of the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic Saturday morning at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park.

Cavanaugh finished 72nd with a five-kilometer time of 17 minutes, 53.2 seconds, while Greiwe was 79th with a time of 17:57.1.

The Screaming Eagles finished with a score of 692 and were the top Ohio Valley Conference team in the field as they edged out Eastern Illinois University, which was 26th with 708 points. Southeast Missouri State University was 35th with 902 points, while the remainder of the OVC teams competing participated in the blue race.

Junior Aubrey Swart (Noblesville, Illinois) was 154th, while sophomore Audrey Comastri (Indianapolis, Indiana) and sophomore Allison Morphew(Evansville, Indiana) were 202nd and 233rd, respectively, to round out USI’s top-five finishers. Senior Emma Brown (Evansville, Indiana) and freshman Micah Peals (Terre Haute, Indiana) rounded out the Eagles top-seven with respective placements of 252nd and 287th.

Freshman Parker Provost (Westfield, Indiana) led USI’s second team, which was 47th in the blue race, with a 285th-place finish.

USI returns to action October 14 when it competes at the Bradley Pink Classic in Peoria, Illinois. The OVC Championships are October 29 in Cookeville, Tennessee.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Senior Noah Hufnagel (Santa Claus, Indiana) used a record-breaking performance to lead University of Southern Indiana Men’s Cross Country to an 18th-place finish out of 31 teams in the gold race of the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic Saturday morning at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park.

Hufnagel finished the eight-kilometer course in 23 minutes, 36.6 seconds to break the nearly 40-year old mark held by USI and Great Lakes Valley Conference Hall of Fame member Jim Nolan, who ran the 8K in 23:43.0 at the 1983 Indiana Intercollegiate. The record was the oldest mark in USI Cross Country/Track & Field history.

The performance was good enough for a ninth-place finish in the 308-competitor field and just over 18 seconds off the winning pace set by Grand Valley State University’s Tanner Chada.

As a team, the Eagles finished with 451 points, finishing five spots lower than fellow Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Illinois University, which was 13th with a score of 379. The two teams were fairly close through their top four competitors, with the Panthers holding a four-point edge, but a wide gap at No. 5 separated the two teams that could battle for an OVC title later this month.

Junior Mitchell Hopf (Santa Claus, Indiana) gave USI a huge boost at No. 2 as he finished 42nd with a time of 24:15.1, while sophomores Dylan Bland (Holland, Indiana) and Brady Terry (Philpot, Kentucky) were 104th and 119th, respectively. Junior Nick Dombroski (Noblesville, Indiana) finished 229th to round out USI’s top five, while freshmen Mukal Verma (Palatine, Illinois) and Carson Kleinhelter (Franklin, Indiana) rounded out the Eagles’ top seven with finishes with placements of 246th and 259th, respectively.

USI’s second team, which was 38th in the blue competition, was paced by senior Taylor Mills (Warsaw, Indiana), who was 114th out of 426 competitors.

The Eagles return to action October 14 when they compete at the Bradley Pink Classic in Peoria, Illinois. The OVC Championships are October 29 in Cookeville, Tennessee.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Sophomore outside/right side hitter Abby Bednar (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) recorded her first double-double of the season after tallying a career-high 21 kills and 15 digs. Despite Bednar’s success, University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (1-15, 1-4 OVC) lost to Lindenwood University (4-9, 1-3 OVC), 3-2 (24-26, 25-21, 20-25, 25-22, 6-15). The Screaming Eagles split the weekend series against the Lions and lose their first-ever meeting against Lindenwood in program history.
 
USI showed strong efforts in the opening frame but ended with a 26-24 loss. Lindenwood started the set with a 3-0 lead before Bednar and junior outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) combined for five kills to help the Eagles tie it at six. USI would go on a 5-1 surge that ended with a service ace from sophomore outside hitter/defensive specialist Anna Ballengee (Montgomery, Indiana) to give the Eagles a three-point advantage. The Lions returned fire with a pair of kills before another Bednar kill and a service ace from sophomore outside/right side hitter Evie Duncan (Evansville, Indiana) put USI up by three. Lindenwood would score seven of the next nine points to regain the lead, 18-16. It was back-and-forth action until Lindenwood tallied back-to-back kills to win the set. The opening set was the closest set of the afternoon with a match-high 13 tie scores and four lead changes.
 
After losing the first set, USI took care of business in the second frame, 25-21. Down by three, the Eagles went on a 4-0 stint that lifted them into a 10-9 lead. After going down 11-10, USI went on another 4-0 run, this time led by Duncan who tallied three kills in the short surge. The Eagles did not let the lead go and went on to tie the match at one. USI played a solid offensive set, tallying 12 kills and just four errors to end with a .242 hitting percentage. Lindenwood struggled with errors in the second set, recording 11 kills and nine errors.
 
The Lions got their revenge on the Eagles after earning a 25-20 third-frame victory. With USI leading 11-10, Lindenwood went on a 7-0 run before Bednar could end the Eagles’ drought with a pair of kills. However, that did not slow the Lions down as they went on a short 3-0 stint to make it 20-13. USI was able to tally seven of the final 12 points, but it was not enough to stop Lindenwood from taking a 2-1 match advantage.
 
A pair of late runs helped USI earn the 25-22 victory in the fourth set. With the Lions holding a solid five-point lead, the Eagles went on a crucial 10-2 run that put them up 16-13. After some solid offense from Lindenwood, the Lions were able to knot it up at 18 before a Lindenwood error and a kill from sophomore middle blocker Lauren O’Neill (Covington, Indiana) gave USI the lead again. With a 23-22 lead, the Eagles took advantage of back-to-back Lindenwood errors to seal their fate and tie the match at two apiece. USI had its best offensive performance in the fourth frame, earning 15 kills and just four errors compared to Lindenwood’s 13 kills and eight errors.
 
It was all Lions in the final set, as Lindenwood strolled to a 15-6 victory. Before they knew it, the Eagles were down 6-0 before O’Neill stopped the bleeding with a kill to give USI its first point of the set. Lindenwood went on a short 3-0 run to extend its lead to eight before the Eagles scored five of the next seven points to make it 11-6. The Lions ended the night on a 4-0 surge that resulted in the Eagles’ 15th loss of the season. Lindenwood totaled 10 kills and one error in the final set as USI had four kills and three errors.
 
Bednar proved to be the heaviest hitter of the match after totaling 21 kills and 15 digs while Duncan backed her up with 11 kills and five digs. Also nabbing double-digit digs were freshman libero/defensive specialist Keira Moore (Newburgh, Indiana) with a team-high 21, sophomore setter Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indiana) with 15, and sophomore outside hitter Abby Weber (Fishers, Indiana) with 12. Leading the passing game was Sobieralski who dished out 31 assists as junior outside/right side hitter/setter Katherine Koch (Belleville, Illinois) earned 10 assists. Guarding the net was sophomore middle hitter Paris Downing (Avon, Indiana) who threw down a match-high six blocks.
 
USI produced its best offensive night of the season after recording a season-high 60 kills, 53 assists, and 93 digs to go along with five aces and eight blocks (one solo and 14 assists). Lindenwood matched with 60 kills, 54 assists, and 92 digs along with 10 aces and six blocks.
 
NEXT UP FOR THE EAGLES:

CHARLESTON, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Soccer were victorious on Saturday, taking down Eastern Illinois University, 3-2, earning the team’s first win of the season and first win in NCAA Division I since 1994. The Screaming Eagles improve to 1-7-2, 1-1-0 Summit League, while the Panthers fall to 1-6-1, 0-2-0 Summit League.
 
Eastern Illinois was able to strike first in the match, taking the early 1-0 lead at the 17:32 mark in the first half. USI was able to respond in timely fashion as Ednilson Voiles (Jeremie, Haiti) tied the game at one a piece at the 22:18 mark. The goal was Voiles first of his collegiate career. Alec Meissner (St. Charles, Missouri) played incredibly well in the first half of the match. Despite the one goal going through, he made eight saves on 10 shots faced.
 
The second half started slow for both teams until the Panthers were able to pull ahead in the 73rd minute as Sam Eccles scored his second goal of the match to give EIU a 2-1 lead. Less than seven minutes later the Eagles were able to knot the game back up at two as Sam Benoist (Foristell, Missouri) was able to slot a ball into the back of the net off the pass from Will Kirchhofer (Fishers, Indiana). Just 22 seconds later Benoist struck again to give the Eagles the 3-2 advantage that they would need to finish off the Panthers. Benoist slotted the ball away from a beautiful pass from Voiles. USI’s incredible defense prevailed in the final ten minutes, shutting down Eastern Illinois to earn their first win of the season, their first win as a member of the Summit League, and their first program win at the Division I level since 1994.
 
Eastern Illinois outshot the Eagles 14-9 in the match and had a 12-7 advantage in shots on goal. Benoist, Voiles, and Zach Barton (St. Louis, Missouri) all lead the team with two shots while Benoist was the only Eagle with multiple shots on goal. Meissner finished the match with eight saves made on 14 shots faced and allowed the two goals.
 
UP NEXT FOR USI:
The Eagles continue their season on the road Tuesday, October 4, as they travel to Louisville, Kentucky to take on longtime rival Bellarmine University at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium with kickoff set for 6 pm (CDT). USI will then return home for one match against the University of Nebraska Omaha on Saturday, October 8, with kickoff set for 7pm from Strassweg Field.
 
Bellarmine comes into the match with USI with a record of 4-3-1, 1-2-0 ASUN, on the season and will take on Florida Gulf Coast University on Sunday before the battle with the Eagles. USI leads the all-time series between the two teams, 25-15-2, but fell in their last matchup in September 2019, 5-1. The Knights are being led this season by Nolan McGrath who has four goals on six shots and six shots on goal. Matthew Brozovich is the main man in net for Bellarmine, making seven appearances and starts for the Knights. He has allowed 10 goals and has made 22 saves in his 74 shots faced.
 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams competed in a packed field at Tom Sawyer State Park for the annual Live in Lou Cross Country Classic Saturday afternoon.

The VU men’s team competed in a field of 412 runners from 59 different schools and 45 teams.

The Trailblazers men’s team got the day started with their 8k race and were paced by sophomore Mathew Keitany (Kenya) who finished with a time of 26:15.2.

Freshman Isaac Stanford (Flora, Ill.) and sophomore Ernest Momodu (Indianapolis, Ind.) were the next VU runners across the line with Stanford finishing at 26:48.1 and Momodu crossing at 27:04.0.

Sophomores Reed Lawless (Kouts, Ind.) and Ian Boit (Kimilili, Kenya) finished at 27:39.9 for Lawless and 28:37.0 for Boit.

Sophomore Trenton Faulkner (Wheatland, Ind.) and freshman Sol O’Blenis (Amboy, Ind.) both crossed the line under the 30-minute mark with Faulkner ending at 28:50.9 and O’Blenis finishing at 29:25.5.

The VU men’s team was rounded out Saturday by freshmen Matthew Gray (Washington, Ind.) and Griffin Worzella (Martinsville, Ind.) with Gray finishing with a time of 30:01.6 and Worzella ending at 30:42.1.

Vincennes’ men’s team placed 20th out of a tough group of 45 qualifying teams, including placing ahead of NCAA Division I programs Evansville and Tennessee State University.