EVANSVILLE, Ind. – For the first time, the Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Championship will be coming to Evansville.  Meeks Family Fieldhouse will be the site of the 2022 championship site in November.

Set to take place from November 20-23, the championship will feature the top eight finishers from the regular season standings.  Two matches will take place on the opening three days before the championship is played on the 23^rd.

“Having the MVC tournament in Evansville for the first time in history is a huge step for our program,” UE head volleyball coach Fernando Morales exclaimed.  “Our program has been growing over the last several years as well as the sport of volleyball in the Evansville area.  Having the top eight teams from one of the best conferences in the nation will help volleyball in Evansville to continue to grow.”

“I am excited about this season and the tournament in November.  See you in Meeks!”

Since taking over as head coach in 2019, Morales has directed the Purple Aces to two MVC Championship appearances in three seasons.  Prior to his arrival, the program did not make the tournament since 2008.  Last fall, the Aces finished with 21 victories, marking their first 20-win campaign since 1988.

UE was invited to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) for its first postseason appearance since the early 1980s and first as a member of the MVC.

“This is such an exciting announcement for our athletics department as well as the Evansville community as a whole,” UE Director of Athletics Dr. Kenneth “Ziggy” Siegfried stated.  “Coach Morales has taken our program to new heights while actively working to grow the sport in our community.”

“Around the nation, the Missouri Valley Conference is recognized for its volleyball success and to be able to host the championship at our facility is a testament to the hard work by our entire staff,” Siegfried continued. “We have so much positive momentum right now and this only adds to that excitement.”

Meeks Family Fieldhouse was renovated prior to the 2017 season and the finished product was one of the top Mid-Major facilities in the country.  Investing close to $1 million into the facility, UE was the first program in the MVC to utilize the Taraflex floor, which is the official floor surface of the Olympics.  Other upgrades included a videoboard, bleacher seating and LED boards on both sides of the floor, chairback seating, and an enhanced sound system.

The full tournament schedule is below.  All matches will be carried on ESPN+.  Ticket information will be released closer to the tournament date.

Sunday, November 20

Match 1 – 3 p.m. CT – No. 5 vs. No. 8

Match 2 – 6 p.m. CT – No. 6 vs. No. 7

Monday, November 21

Match 3 – 3 p.m. CT – No. 4 vs. Match 1 Winner

Match 4 – 6 p.m. CT – No. 3 vs. Match 2 Winner

Tuesday, November 22 – Semifinals

Match 5 – 3 p.m. CT – No. 1 vs. Match 3 Winner

Match 6 – 6 p.m. CT – No. 2 vs. Match 4 Winner

Wednesday, November 23 – Championship

Match 7 – 4 p.m. CT – Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner

FLORENCE, Ky. - The Evansville Otters hit a quartet of home runs Thursday, including two by Steven Sensley, to claim a series finale win against the Florence Y’alls, 11-5.

Evansville wasted no time snagging a lead early, as Steven Sensley hit a no-doubt two-run home run to right field in the first inning.

In the bottom half of the first, Jeffrey Baez helped out starter Brett Adcock, throwing out a runner at home from deep left field, keeping Florence scoreless.

In the second, Florence matched the Otters with a two-run home run from Ray Zuberer.

Two innings later, the Otters began to run away, striking for another pair of runs on back-to-back RBIs from George Callil and Elijah MacNamee.

Two more runs scored for Evansville in the fifth, this time on a pair of solo home runs from Sensley and Justin Felix.

For Sensley, his season home run total now sits at eight, while Felix hit his fifth of the season.

In the bottom half of the fifth, the Y’alls managed another run, this time on an RBI sacrifice fly from Alberti Chavez, reducing the Otters’ advantage to 6-3.

In the sixth, Evansville again rallied for two runs, scoring a run on a fielder’s choice from Sensley and a single from J.R. Davis.

Evansville put the game on hold in the eighth as Baez mashed a three-run home run to left-center, his fourth of the season, and giving the Otters an 11-3 lead.

One final time, the Y’alls put a rush together, but fell short in the ninth, scoring two runs and falling 11-5.

MacNamee, Miles Gordon, Sensley and Callil all recorded multi-hit outings, Baez and Sensley each putting up muli-RBI games.

Brett Adcock earned the win, allowing just three runs on six hits, good for his first win of the season. The loss went to Jonaiker Villalobos, his third of 2022.

The Evansville Otters continue their road trip Friday night at Lake Erie to face the Crushers at 6:05 p.m.CT. Coverage on the Evansville Otters YouTube page starts at 5:50 p.m.CT.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Former Indiana swimming and diving standout Lilly King won her first-ever 200-meter breaststroke world title at the 19th FINA World Championships on Thursday (June 23) in Budapest and made American swimming history while doing so.

Per Braden Keith, editor-in-chief of the swimming and diving news website SwimSwam, “King is the first American swimmer, male or female, to win a career treble of golds in the 50-100-200 [meter] of any stroke at the long course world championships.”

The Evansville, Indiana, native earned her 15th-career world championship medal and 13th gold. She previously doubled as the 50-and-100-breaststroke winner at both the 2017 and 2019 championships.

King completed the triple Thursday, swimming the 200-meter race in 2:22.41. She blazed through the final 50 meters in 36.36 to pass Australian Jenna Strauch (2:23.04) and fellow American Kate Douglass (2:23.20).

The 200-meter breaststroke victory is King’s second gold of this year’s championships after she swam in the preliminary of Team USA’s 4×100-meter mixed medley relay on Tuesday. King placed fourth in the 100-meter breaststroke on Monday, finishing in 1:06.07, and will swim the preliminary of her final event, the 50-meter breaststroke, on Friday.

King competed at IU from 2016-19 and won all eight NCAA titles combined in the 100-and-200-yard breaststroke events during that span. She is also a four-time Olympic medalist between the 2016 and 2020 games.