Aces face Redhawks on Wednesday

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A trip to Cape Girardeau, Mo. is on tap for the University of Evansville men’s basketball team, who will take on Southeast Missouri State on Wednesday evening in a 6:30 p.m. contest inside the Show Me Center.  ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the coverage.

Last Time Out

– On Saturday, the Purple Aces were able to grind out a 59-51 win over Tennessee Tech at the Ford Center

– UE led by as many as 8 points in the second half before the Golden Eagles stormed back to get within one with 1:50 remaining

– Antoine Smith Jr. connected on a triple that put the UE lead back at four points before the Aces pulled away for the win

– Jawaun Newton and Shamar Givance led the Aces with 15 points and 7 rebounds apiece while Smith and Blake Sisley registered 12 points each

Player of the Week

– For the second time in his career, Shamar Givance was named the MVC Player of the Week on Monday following his efforts against SIU and Tennessee Tech

– Grievance went off for 31 points versus the Salukis just three days after posting what was a career mark of 26 at EIU

– He followed that up with a 15-point, 7-rebound tally in the win over the Golden Eagles while adding 3 assists and 3 steals

– The senior is averaging 24 points per game over the last two outings and ranks 9th in the MVC in scoring

– The senior continues to pace the squad in assists and steals…his 3.6 assists/game ranks 7th in the MVC while his average of 1.6 steals is third in the league

Newcomer Award

– Antoine Smith Jr. earned MVC Newcomer of the Week recognition on Nov. 29 and has continued to play well since that time

– After opening the season going 1-for-8 from the field, Smith has converted 28 of his last 47 attempts – 59.6%

– From outside, Smith hit 3 of first 10 attempts but has drained 16 of his last 29

– Smith knocked down 4 out of 6 3-point tries against TTU to improve his season shooting mark to 48.7%, 4th in the MVC

– In four games leading to his Nov. 29 newcomer award, Smith averaged 13.5 points per game and reached double figures on three occasions

Biding his Time

– Freshman Blake Sisley is coming off of his top performance against Tennessee Tech where he knocked down 5 out of 6 attempts (2/3 from outside) on his way to 12 points

– In his first six appearance prior to that game, he scored a total of three points while going 1-for-9 from the field

– Sisley has earned more playing time over the last three games, playing at least 12 minutes on two occasions

Checking all the Boxes

– It has been an unbelievable stretch for Jawaun Newton who has averaged 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds over the last six contests

– He opened the Gulf Coast Showcase with a career-high of 30 points, marking the Aces first such effort since 2019

– It took until his 89th game to record the first double-double of his career, but #2 came just four days later…Newton registered 19 points and 10 boards on Nov. 24 versus Akron and followed that up with 13 points and 12 caroms at EIU

Scouting the Opponent

– Southeast Missouri State comes into Wednesday’s game with an even 4-4 mark after defeating Webster by a final of 76-64 on Saturday

– The win ended a 2-game skid following losses to Montana State and Portland in the Incarnate Word Tournament in San Antonio

– SEMO opened the season with a 99-94 road win at Missouri State

– Eric Reed Jr. leads the Redhawks with 16.3 points per game with Phillip Russell and Chris Harris also recording double figures with 12.1 and 11.1 PPG, respectively

– Nygal Russell has a team-best 6.1 caroms per contest

Aces fall in NIVC quarterfinals

 VALPARAISO, Ind. – Alondra Vazquez and Giulia Cardona broke University of Evansville single season records on Monday as the Purple Aces volleyball team dropped its NIVC Quarterfinals match to Valparaiso.

Vazquez recorded 10 kills in the contest to break the UE single season kills mark with 494. Her tally on Monday gave her the record by just one kill.  The previous record of 493 was set by Genesis Miranda in 2015.  Giulia Cardona picked up 11 kills to complete her first collegiate season with a total of 467.  Her total broke the freshman kills record, which was set by Melanie Feliciano in 2019.  Feliciano had 456 kills in her inaugural campaign.  The 2021 MVC Freshman of the Year finished with an average of 0.50 service aces per set, ranking in the top 15 nationally while on pace to be the top average for a freshman in the nation.

Melanie Feliciano wrapped up the year with 3.28 kills per set, giving UE three of the top six spots in the MVC in that statistic.  She was rewarded with a spot on the All-MVC First Team, along with Vazquez, for her efforts.

Another freshman – Taya Haffner – accumulated 1,141 kills on the season and led the MVC for the entire year.  Her total was the second-most for the program since 2009 and was just the 10^th instance that a player finished with 1,000 in program history.  Her average of 10.76 helpers per frame ranks in the top 35 in the NCAA.  UE’s top blocker in 2021 was freshman Madisyn Steele.  Hitting .333 for the season, Steele accumulated six solo blocks and a team-high 73 block assists.

Tonight’s match was the final in the careers of Cecilia Thon and Elena Redmond.  Injury limited Redmond over the previous two seasons, but she was able to get on the floor for the senior night contest at Meeks Family Fieldhouse in November.  Thon capped off her career with a spot on the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team.

As a team, the Aces finish the fall with 21 victories.  It is the first 20-win campaign since 1988 and the first as members of the MVC.  The appearance in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship is also the first postseason trip for the program since the early 1980’s.

 

Set 1 – Valpo 25, UE 17

A nice start saw the Aces take a 6-4 lead with Giulia Cardona picking up a kill.  Her first kill of the night officially set the program mark for most kills by a freshman.  Valpo came back to tie it up at 8-8 before jumping in front by a 10-9 score.  Evansville retook a 12-11 lead and the teams dueled it out to a 15-15 mark.  The Beacons scored two in a row to jump in front and would stage a late rally to take the first set.  Up 19-17, VU scored the final six points to complete the set.

Set 2 – Valpo 25, UE 13

UE jumped out to a 3-2 advantage but the Beacons posted seven of the next nine points to go up 9-5.  Following a point by the Aces, VU scored the next five points before extending the lead to take the set by a 25-13 final.

Set 3 – Valpo 25, UE 17

With momentum on their side, the Beacons took a 3-1 lead to open the set before the Aces rallied to tie it up at 5-5 on a kill by Melanie Feliciano.  Valpo slowly extended the lead to four points at 15-11 before Evansville stormed back.  Kills by Hannah Watkins and Giulia Cardona got UE within just one point at 18-17, forcing a time out.  Following the short break, VU reeled off the final seven points to clinch the match.