EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The pitching trio of Justin Watland, Jake Polancic and Logan Sawyer helped keep the Joliet Slammers at bay Tuesday night as the Evansville Otters won 5-1.

For the third straight game, the Otters scored a first-inning run, this time on an RBI single from Zach Biermann.

In the third, Evansville added to their lead, capitalizing on a Joliet error to score Jeffrey Baez on a double from J.R. Davis.

The Slammers found the run column in the fourth, grabbing three straight singles off Watland, the final one bringing in a run.

The 2-1 lead was expanded quickly in the sixth as the Otters used another error to get Miles Gordon on base. The error from the pitcher not only gave Gordon first but second and third as well. Directly after, Brody Tanksley brought Gordon in, advancing the lead to 3-1.

In the seventh, Evansville lowered their foot yet again, using another Joliet error to their favor. A leadoff error allowed Rosario to reach to begin the seventh. After a Biermann single, Davis brought both in with a two-run double.

In the eighth, Jake Polancic came in to help close the door. Despite allowing a two-out double, he made it through the eighth unscathed.

Polancic began the ninth, but after allowing two men on with one out, Sawyer was called upon out of the pen. Sawyer ended things quickly after giving up a hit, striking out the final two batters for the Slammers.

The win went to Justin Watland, who gave up just one (unearned) run on five hits in seven full innings. The loss fell to Cole Cook after he allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings.

The win (plus Schaumburg’s loss against Washington) puts Evansville back in second place in the West Division with 11 games to play in the regular season.

The series with Joliet continues on Wednesday night with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch from Bosse Field.

The Vincennes University Trailblazer volleyball team continued their hot start to the 2022 season Tuesday night when the Blazers picked up the three-set sweep over Lincoln Trail College 25-22, 25-13, 25-17.

The match did not get off to the best of starts for Vincennes, dropping the first four points of the opening set and nine of the first 11 points to begin the match.

VU would rally back to even the score but did not see their first lead until 20-19.

Once the Blazers grabbed the lead, they closed out the match strong, taking the opening set 25-22 over the Lady Statesmen.

Set two again got off to a shaky start for the Trailblazers, with Lincoln Trail holding a narrow 8-7 lead before VU used a 7-0 scoring run to take control of the match.

Vincennes would use a 6-0 scoring run late in the set to take a commanding 22-12 lead, before closing out the second set 25-13 and taking the 2-0 match lead.

Lincoln Trail grabbed the early lead again in the third set, with Vincennes unable to get the lead back until a 3-0 run gave VU a 16-15 advantage.

After the Lady Statesmen took the lead back, Vincennes would finish off the match in style with a 9-0 scoring run to give the Blazers the 25-17 set three win and the 3-0 match sweep.

“We talked about at the beginning of the match that Lincoln Trail was setting the ball all the way to the antennas, so we knew we needed to block the line,” VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. “A lot of teams don’t do that; they usually give about two or more feet between the blockers and the antenna and that’s just too much space. Once we were able to get out blockers all the way out to the antennas, we were really able to control their hitters.”

“We didn’t really make an adjustment, because we normally like to take away the line first and then adjust to the cross,” Sien added. “It took us way too long to get that today but credit the team for making that adjustment and taking away their hitters from there. Our blocking not only changed the momentum of that first set, but really the entire match tonight.”

Sophomore Malgorzata Banasiak (Gdynia, Poland) and freshmen Tuana Turhan (Ankara, Turkey) and Kennedy Sowell (Effingham, Ill.) each finished the match with over six blocks, with Banasiak leading the pack with seven.

Turhan finished with six kills and an ace, with Banasiak adding four kills to her line as well.

VU was led offensively by freshman Paige Parlanti (Las Vegas, Nev.) who picked up her first collegiate double-double, ending with a team-high 10 kills and 16 digs on the night. Parlanti also had a team-high three aces and a block assist to go along with an impressive .348 hitting percentage.

Freshmen Audrey Buis (Franklin, Ind.) and Alexis Chrappa (Effingham, Ill.) added some help at the net with Buis coming away with five kills, three block assists and a pair of digs and Chrappa ending with three kills, one block assist and four digs on the night.

Sophomore setters Hannah Graber (Montgomery, Ind.) and Josephine Mulligan (Saint John, Ind.) ran the Trailblazer offense well all night, with Graber finishing the night with 11 set assists, five kills and three digs and Mulligan ending with 10 set assists, one dig and one ace.

Freshman libero Morgan Netcott (Montague, Mich.) patrolled the back row defensively on her way to a team-high 16 digs on the night and one set assist, along with sophomore Lara Gomes de Castro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) who ended her night with nine digs and an ace.

Sophomore Kaley Roush (Shoals, Ind.) entered the game in the second set and really provided a spark, for the Trailblazers, ending her night with one kill, one block assist and one dig, all coming a big moments in the match.

“I thought our blockers did a really good job, I thought Audrey did a nice job on the ride side as well,” Sien said. “She may not have had the numbers, but she really affected their shots. We didn’t have the big scoring runs like we did Sunday, but we had some. I thought we made some errors, but I thought we were serving tougher. I think we were able to serve in tough, crucial situations against what is probably the best out of the three teams that we’ve faced so far this season.”

“Paige, so far, is as advertised,” Sien added. “We knew we really needed to go after her recruiting this summer because we can never have too many hitters, especially of that caliber. With her experience level playing club in Los Angeles, any player who plays there is going to be a top-level player. She is a type of player that should be averaging a double-double, because we just leave her in there to hit and block on the front row and serve receive and play defense on the back row.”

“The nice thing about Paige is that she reached out to us because VU has her Fire Science major,” Sien said. “But after watching about two minutes of her film, I knew we needed to do everything we could to get her. She was an All-State player and probably one of the top players coming out of Nevada last year.”

The Trailblazers will hit the road for the first time during the 2022 season, heading to Ullin, Illinois Thursday, Aug. 25 for a Region 24 matchup against Shawnee Community College.

This game has been moved to Century High School in Ullin and the match is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. eastern.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (0-0, 0-0 OVC) begins NCAA Division I play as the Screaming Eagles host Murray State University (0-0, 0-0 MVC) Friday August 26 at 6 p.m. and Saturday August 27 at 2 p.m. After the home opener, the Eagles head across town to the University of Evansville (0-0, 0-0 MVC) to face the Aces Tuesday August 30 at 6 p.m. These will be the first regular season Division I matches the Eagles play since joining the Ohio Valley Conference in early 2022.
 
Game Coverage
Information about USI Volleyball, including live stats, video, and audio broadcasts, is available on USIScreamingEagles.com. 
 
Tickets
Tickets for USI Volleyball home matches can be purchased at the ticket window on game day or online. Adults (ages 18 and over) are $8, while non-USI students (ages 12-17) are $5. All USI students, faculty, and staff with a valid ID are admitted free. Children 11-and-under also are admitted free.
 
Tickets for the USI, Evansville match at Meeks Family Fieldhouse can be purchased through the Aces athletic website. Adults are $8 while seniors and youth are $6.
 
Screaming Eagles Headlines:
Welcome to Division I. USI Board of Trustees voted unanimously in January 2022 to transition to NCAA Division I athletics beginning in the fall of 2022. The Eagles will be a full-time member of the Ohio Valley Conference.
 
A First for Everything. USI will face NCAA Division I opponents during the regular season for the first time in program history. The Eagles spent 42 seasons in NCAA Division II.
 
Schedule Breakdown. USI will host 11 matches this fall while traveling for 18 matches, including three non-conference tournaments. The Eagles face OVC opponents 18 times while battling non-conference foes 11 times.
 
Pre-Season Poll and Honors. The OVC predicted that USI would finish eighth in the conference standings after gaining 48 votes, just above Lindenwood and Tennessee State. Junior outside hitter Leah Anderson was voted to the Preseason All-OVC Team as the lone Eagle to make the team.
 
Familiar Faces. USI returns nine players from last year’s roster including Anderson, who ranks seventh all-time at USI with 139 career service aces and 18th with 884 kills. Also returning is sophomore outside/right side hitter Abby Bednar, who led USI with 2.80 kills per set in 2021.
 
No Place Like Home. The Eagles finished 2021 with an 11-2 home record. Since the opening of Screaming Eagles Arena in 2019, USI has a combined 27-6 home record.
 
History in the Making. Anderson is within striking distance of becoming the 15th player in program history to reach the 1,000-kill plateau and 13th player to reach the 1,000-dig plateau. If successful in both endeavors, Anderson would become the fifth player in program history to reach both milestones.
 
Killer Offense. USI’s offensive attack was stellar in 2021, nabbing 1,509 kills compared to its opponent’s 1,427. The Eagles also tallied 1,364 assists and 186 service aces, both more than its opponents.
 
Block It Like It’s Hot. The Eagles’ front lines stood tall last fall, recording 244 total blocks with a little over two blocks per set.
 
Young Core. USI has 10 underclassmen coming into 2021, which includes seven sophomores and three freshmen. The Eagles also are playing with just three upperclassmen, all three being juniors
 
About Murray State. The Racers ended last season with an 18-12 record, finishing 11-7 in its final season in the Ohio Valley Conference. Murray State is predicted to finish 10th in the Missouri Valley Conference this season after receiving 43 votes, just behind Belmont and Southern Illinois.
 
Leading the Racers. Murray State returns six players to the 2022 roster from last season, adding eight newcomers and transfers. Junior Jayla Holcombe put up promising numbers for the Racers last fall, tallying 211 kills and 32 total blocks. Sophomore Bailey DeMier made the 1,000-assists club after recording a conference-most 1,270 assists in 2021.
 
About Evansville. The Purple Aces finished with a 21-12 record in 2021, finishing 9-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Evansville is predicted to finish second in the MVC after receiving two top votes. It was the highest preseason ranking in program history. The Aces will compete in the Marshall Invitational prior to facing USI on Tuesday.
 
Leading the Aces. Fifth year senior Alondra Vazquez returns for the Aces after tallying a team-high 494 kills and 58 service aces last season. Vazquez also led the team with 327 digs and was named to the Preseason All-MVC Team, along with senior teammate, Melanie Feliciano. Evansville also returns sophomore Madisyn Steele, who led the Aces on the front lines with 79 total blocks.
 
Cross-Town Rivalry. USI faces Evansville for the 25th time in program history. The Eagles are 6-18 versus the Aces after losing the first 11 matches from 1980-84. The last time the two clubs collided was an exhibition match in 2019 USI came up victorious, 3-2, at Screaming Eagles Arena.