USI Ties Missouri S&T In 2OT On Senior DaEVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Soccer rallied from behind twice but had to settle for a 3-3 double-overtime tie with Missouri University of Science & Technology on Senior Day Sunday at Strassweg Field. The Eagles move to 5-8-1 overall and 4-7-1 in the GLVC, while the Miners are to 5-7-2, 4-6-2 GLVC, after today’s action.

USI found itself in a 1-0 hole early as Missouri S&T scored 51 seconds into the match. The Eagles, however, would rebound to even the score, 1-1, at 16:04 when senior forward Graham Miller (Owensboro) netted his third goal of the season. Miller was assisted on the play by freshman midfielder Cade Walsh (St. Louis, Missouri).

The score would remain knotted up at 1-1 through halftime and until the 49:38 mark of the second half when the Miners reclaimed the lead, 2-1.

The Eagles rallied for the second time with a pair of unanswered goals to take a 3-2 advantage. Miller got his second goal of the game and fourth of the season at 77:49 off an assist from freshman defender Mical Hardtman (Bermuda) to tie the match, 2-2.

USI junior midfielder Ryan Nevins (St. Peters, Missouri) gave the Eagles their first lead of the match, 3-2, at 82:00. Nevins picked up the ball at midfield and drove down the center of the pitch before shooting from just inside of the box for his second goal of the season.

The USI lead would last for just over seven minutes when Missouri S&T got the equalizer with 43 seconds to play and force the two overtimes. Each teams had four shots each in the extra periods, while the Miners had a 4-0 advantage in corners.

UPCOMING FOR THE EAGLES:
USI completes the 2021 regular-season schedule on the road next week, traveling to the University of Missouri-St. Louis Friday for a 7:30 p.m. match and Lindenwood University Sunday for a 2:30 p.m. contest. UMSL, which is 6-6-1 overall and 5-5-1 in the GLVC, plays Lindenwood, who is 6-5-1 overall a 6-4-1 GLVC, later this afternoon at home.

USI trails the all-time series with UMSL, 22-9-2, but has won four of the last five matches after last spring’s 3-1 win in Evansville. The Eagles lead the series with Lindenwood, 3-0-0, after a 4-3 win last spring in Evansville.

 Cardona picks up 17 kills and 7 aces

 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The longest Missouri Valley Conference win streak in program history got a little longer on Saturday when the University of Evansville volleyball team won its 6^th consecutive league match with a 3-0 sweep over Indiana State inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

Evansville’s streak pushes its record to 16-4 and 6-3 in the MVC.  The league start matches the program’s best since entering the league in 1994; the Purple Aces began the 2000 campaign with a 6-3 mark through nine games.

Reigning MVC Player and Freshman of the Week Giulia Cardona made an argument for the repeat, leading all players with 17 kills and 7 service aces.  The finished the match with 24 points in just three sets.  Cardona’s 7 aces is her top collegiate mark and is the first such effort since Anne Teegardin recorded 7 in 2006, also against Indiana State.

Melanie Feliciano added 14 kills in the winning effort to go along with 6 digs.  Taya Haffner recorded 38 assists while Blakeley Freeman and Alondra Vazquez led the team in digs, finishing with 9 and 8, respectively.  The Sycamores (11-8, 3-6 MVC) were led by an 8-kill match by Kaitlyn Hamilton.

Set 1 – UE 26, Indiana State 16

After falling to Indiana State by a 3-0 final in the MVC opener last month, the Aces wasted little time in setting the tone.  An ace by Alondra Vazquez highlighted a 5-2 run to open the match.  The serving continued its dominant effort as consecutive aces by Giulia Cardona pushed the lead to 11-4.  Melanie Feliciano added a pair of kills in the run.  UE continued to be efficient from all spots on the floor with its middles – Hannah Watkins and Madisyn Steele – picking up kills to pace the team to a 25-16 win and an early 1-0 lead.

Set 2 – UE 25, Indiana State 17

Game two saw the teams battle to a 5-5 tie before Evansville wrestled away a 9-5 lead.  Using its stellar serving to its advantage once again, Evansville saw Cardona rack up two more aces to take the lead.  Indiana State stayed close, taking advantage of a pair of UE errors to get within one at 18-17.  That is when a familiar face took matters into her own hands.  Cardona got the Aces back on track with a kill before assuming the serving duties.  She added two more aces while Feliciano recorded two more kills to complete the set on a 7-0 run, taking a 2-0 match lead on the strength of a 25-17 win.

Set 3 – UE 25, Indiana State 23

Early on, it looked like the Aces would clinch the match in runaway fashion.  Another Cardona ace, coupled with a Feliciano kill, saw Evansville take an 8-3 advantage.  ISU countered with a 4-0 rally to get within one, but Evansville responded with two in a row to go up 11-7.  Three kills by Cardona helped the Aces pad their lead at 19-13, but a tenacious rally by the Sycamores made for an exciting finish.  Madeline Williams picked up an ace that cut the UE lead to 21-19.  Evansville retook control, going up 24-21 on a Cardona kill, but the Sycamores continued to fight back.  Back-to-back kills made it a 24-23 game, but the defining moment came when Hannah Watkins delivered the winning kill to cap off a 25-23 win.

Evansville has won all four MVC home matches by 3-0 finals and looks to continue its home success next weekend with Valparaiso and league-leading Loyola coming to town,