CHARLESTON, Ill. – The University of Evansville swimming and diving teams swept a dual meet from home-standing Eastern Illinois on Saturday in convincing fashion, as the Purple Aces earned 125-76 and 129-69 wins respectively on the men’s and women’s sides at Padovan Pool in Charleston, Illinois.

“All in all, it was a great team effort,” said UE swimming and diving coach Stuart Wilson.  “The freshmen class really stole the show early, as they put us ahead of Eastern Illinois to start, and then nothing can outshine the job that Riccardo Di Domenico did on the men’s side, as he broke the pool record in the 200 free, won the 100 fly, and helped the 200 medley relay team win as well.

“Overall, this was a great start to the season.”

Di Domenico, a junior from Johannesburg, South Africa, was dominant in UE’s 125-76 win on the men’s side, as he picked up right where he left off in the spring to claim individual victories in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly events.  Di Domenico won the 200 free events by over four seconds with a pool-record time of 1:40.82 and then came back six events later to beat the field in the 100 flyby over three seconds, clocking in with a time of 50.21.

Evansville’s freshmen sparked the Aces to an early win in the 200-yard medley relay, as rookies Daniel Santos Lopez (Madrid, Spain) and Jakob Grundbacher (Long Beach, Calif.) swam the lead and anchor legs to help UE coast to a medley relay victory with a time of 1:34.54.  Fellow freshman Logan Anderson (Knoxville, Tenn.) also swam the lead leg of UE’s B medley relay team which placed third and helped UE jump to a 13-4 lead.

From there, Di Domenico and sophomore Jackson Caudill (Mount Sterling, Ky.) posted doubles on the men’s side to expand the lead out, with Caudill taking home both the men’s 1,000-yard freestyle (9:39.92) and 500-yard freestyle (4:44.29) events in commanding fashion to help UE take control of the meet.  Santos Lopez and Grundbacher took home first place spots in the 50 free (21.62) and 100 free (48.51) events respectively, while senior Zeke Metz (Topeka, Kan.) cruised to a win in the men’s 200-yard IM with a time of 1:56.15.  True freshman Carlos Souto Vilas (A Coruna, Spain) also made an immediate impact for UE, as he won the men’s 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 57.98, which ranks 10^th-fastest all-time at Evansville.

On the women’s side, the Purple Aces took home first place honors in 10 of the 11 events.  Junior Sarah Jahns (Lilburn, Ga.) highlighted the attack, as she posted an impressive double by winning both the 500-yard free and 1,000-yard free in dominating fashion.  Jahns began her day by winning the 1,000 free by over 30 seconds with a time of 10:35.28.  She then came back over an hour later to win the 500 free by over 15 seconds, with a mark of 5:11.96.

“Sarah really picked up right where she left off, and she did a tremendous job,” said Wilson.  “Overall, I was really proud of the effort that the women gave today.  Every single race, we had impressive performances, and this is a great start to the season.”

Junior Sonsoles Aguayo (Jerez, Spain) led a podium sweep for UE in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:57.66.  Senior Jessie Steele (Houston, Texas) claimed the individual title in the 50 free with a time of 24.66, while freshmen Mari Mueller (Aschaffenburg, Switzerland) and Sveva Brugnoli (Rome, Italy) placed first and second respectively in the women’s 200-yard IM (2:09.56 and 2:09.69).

Junior Maya Cunningham (Yakima, Wash.) and Brugnoli nearly tied in the women’s 100 fly event, as Cunningham edged Brugnoli by five one-hundredths of a second, 58.61 to 58.66, to claim the individual title.  Sophomore Iryna Tsesiul (Minsk, Belarus) led a trio of Aces who finished first, second and third in the 100 backstrokes with a time of 59.76, while junior Sage Moore (Lexington, Ohio) won the women’s 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:07.56.

Evansville will have a short week of training this week, as both teams will compete again on Friday, as UE welcomes Valparaiso to Wyttenbach Pool for a dual meet.  The meet will begin at 3:00 p.m.

Volleyball Picks Up Impressive 3-0 Win

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – In another efficient all-around performance, the University of Evansville volleyball team defeated Illinois State by a 3-0 final on Saturday night at Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

With the victory, the Purple Aces (12-4, 2-3 MVC) earned their fifth-ever triumph over the Redbirds (7-11, 3-3 MVC).  The win also marked the first time UE has earned consecutive 3-0 shutouts over Missouri Valley Conference opponents since October of 2010.  On Oct. 9-10 of that season, the Aces earned home shutouts over Indiana State and Illinois State.  Head coach Fernando Morales was proud of the effort from his team and the way they bounced back from adversity.

“It was a great weekend.  The team came together after a rough start to the conference and the situation we went through last weekend,” he said.  “We know how teams do not like to play at Meeks Family Fieldhouse and we want to take full advantage of that!”

A balanced offensive attack saw Melanie Feliciano record a match-high 18 kills with Alondra Vazquez and Giulia Cardona adding 13 apiece.  Vazquez chipped in 13 digs while Cardona added three service aces.  The freshman totaled eight aces in two-weekend matches.  Taya Haffner registered 42 assists.  The Redbirds were led by Aliyah Moore’s 12-kill effort.

Set 1 – UE 25, Illinois State 20

Evansville set the tone early, picking up the first three points of the night before going up 9-3.  Vazquez had two kills in the opening three points while Madisyn Steele added two of her own in the early stretch.  Cardona capped off the stretch with an ace and kill.  Illinois State inched their way back, cutting the deficit to one (12-11).  With the Aces in front by a 15-13 tally, Feliciano picked up a pair of kills that sent her team on a 5-1 run.  From there, the Aces took a 25-20 win on their way to a 1-0 match lead.

Set 2 – UE 25, Illinois State 22

It was the Redbirds who had the early momentum, jumping out to a 6-3 lead.  Evansville was unphased, quickly fighting back to tie it at 8-8 on a Vazquez kill before taking the lead at 10-9 on an ISU error.  A hard-fought set on both sides featured 10 tie scores, including a 20-20 tally.  With the set coming down to the wire, it was Feliciano who put her team in front for good.  After her 10^th kill of the night gave the Aces a 21-20 edge, a Redbird error pushed the lead to two.  From there, it was the Aces taking a 2-0 lead on the strength of a 25-22 victory in the set.

Set 3 – UE 25, Illinois State 20

Another back-and-forth contest ensued in the third frame, leading to a 9-9 score.  Vazquez picked up a kill before Laura Ruiz notched an ace that put the Aces up 12-9.  Following an ISU time-out, Evansville added two more points to pad its lead at 14-9.  Illinois State continued its relentless fight, cutting the gap to 18-17 on a kill by Aliyah Moore.  Feliciano countered on the other end, earning her 18^th kill of the evening before another Cardona ace put Evansville up 20-17.  The Redbirds were unable to overcome the deficit as the Aces clinched the match with a 25-20 decision in the set.

Next up for UE is a home match versus Missouri State on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m.