Aces play three matches to open 2025 campaign

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A new era begins this weekend as Zach Weinberg opens his first season at the helm of the University of Evansville volleyball program when the Purple Aces travel to the Butler Big Dawg Kickoff.  UE opens against Butler on Friday at 11 a.m. CST before facing Middle Tennessee State and Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday.

Looking at the Squad

– Evansville returns 11 players from last season and adds seven newcomers to the mix

– Three of Evansville’s primary starters from last season return

– Of the seven newcomers, six will be freshmen in 2025

Evansville’s Seniors

– Kora Ruff and Maddie Hawkins are set to begin their senior campaigns with the Aces

– Ruff completed her junior campaign with an average of 8.94 assists per set, which put her 4th in the MVC

– She was 10th in the league with 0.31 service aces per set while finishing the year 16th with her mark of 3.07 digs/set

– Hawkins wrapped up the 2024 campaign with an average of 0.22 service aces per set putting her in a tie for 30th in the Valley

– She averaged 0.85 digs and 0.22 points per set as a junior

Offensive Force

– Angelica Gonzalez Maltes was Evansville’s top offensive weapon in the final five matches of the 2024 season

– In that time, she averaged 4.63 kills per set while posting a career-high of 21 kills against Belmont and Indiana State

– For the season, she was second on the team with a total of 226 kills while ranking third with her season average of 2.40 kills

– Gonzalez Maltes saw her average rise to 2.62 kills against MVC foes

Finishing Strong

– Ainoah Cruz led the Aces with 4.29 digs per set last season, which put her 7th in the MVC

– Cruz was at her best as the season came to a close as she registered 22 or more digs in three of the final four matches

– In the season finale versus Indiana State, Cruz reset her career mark with 36 digs and averaged an unbelievable 8.71 digs/set over the final two matches

Top Ten

– Evansville’s leading hitter in 2024 was Chloe Cline

– Finishing the season hitting .288, Cline put forth the 9th-best single season performance in school history and ranked 10th in the MVC for the season

– Over the course of the season, Cline averaged 1.44 kills and 0.56 blocks per game

– Her career-high of 11 kills came in the win over Illinois State while she added 10 kills versus Southern Illinois and Murray State

Scouting the Opposition

– Friday’s season opener will see the Aces match up against host Butler inside Hinkle Fieldhouse

– The Bulldogs are coming off a 7-23 campaign last season that saw them go 5-13 in Big East play

– Saturday’s opener will see UE face Middle Tennessee State

– The Blue Raiders were 13-18 last year but improved during the Conference USA portion of the schedule where they went 9-9

– Purdue Fort Wayne will be the final opponent of the weekend

– The Mastodons finished the 2024 campaign with a 17-15 record and posted a 10-8 mark in the Horizon League

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Evansville Otters are excited to announce the Frontier League has named LJ Jones the recipient of the 2025 Fran Riordan Citizenship Award.

Selected by Frontier League general managers, coaches and media individuals, this honor proves Jones’ character has been seen across the league this season. The award annually honors the Frontier League’s player who best exhibits outstanding citizenship in the community, both on and off the field.

Jones has become a face of the Frontier League this year with outstanding enthusiasm, love and excitement. He is known for staying after games, whether that’s at home or on the road, interacting with fans, players, coaches or whoever crosses his path, always leaving a smile on their face.

“The entire organization is proud of this accomplishment for LJ,” Otters Field Manager Andy McCauley said. “The impact these players have in fans’ lives is huge and LJ has done an outstanding job to help grow the game with his character.”

Through July struggles, Jones was always keeping it positive on the field to help his teammates stay motivated, especially during warmups where he would request songs at the ballpark then proceed to dance on the field with each of his teammates – making everyone smile and laugh.

“We are incredibly proud of this honor that LJ has achieved,” Otters General Manager Brycen Moore said. “He has been the perfect model of what the Evansville Otters are looking for in the organization. LJ has positively impacted everyone that he has come in contact with and this award recognizes the person that he is.”

Jones becomes the third Otter to be recognized with the Fran Riordan Citizenship Award, joining Tyler Beardsley in 2019 and David Griffin in 2003.

Jones was especially great with the children in the Evansville community. While in the on-deck circle earlier this year, a fan asked LJ to hit a homerun for him, jokingly he said he’d try. A few moments later he launched a ball over the wall then pointed to the kid while crossing the plate, “That was for you.” LJ’s impact on his teammates, the community, and the Frontier League shows another side of baseball that helps this game live on.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville men’s and women’s cross country teams open their 2025 season on Friday night, competing in the Stegemoller Twilight hosted by USI. The host Screaming Eagles welcome UE, Oakland City and Vincennes at USI Cross Country Course in Evansville. The event begins at 7:30 PM with the women’s 4K race, with the men’s 6K following at 8 PM.

On the men’s side, the Aces return 11 runners from a year ago, including three of the team’s top four finishers from last season’s NCAA Great Lakes Regional – Samuel Lea (Worchester, England), Woody Burrell (Cedarburg, Wis./Cedarbug HS) and Rafael Rodriguez (Segovia, Spain). The Aces also welcome 10 newcomers to the squad this fall, consisting of eight freshmen and two transfers.

UE’s women’s team welcomes five returners – Avery Stephens (Newburg, Ind./Castle HS), who was the Aces’ top finisher at the 2024 MVC Championships, Kyndall Anthis (Patoka, Ind./Princeton Community HS), Lauren Bradley (Russiaville, Ind./Western), Chase Hayes (Noblesville, Ind./Western HS) and Rebekah Sachs (Milwaukee, Wis./Milwaukee School of Languages). The women’s squad rounds out their 2025 roster with a six-member freshman class.

The USI Cross Country Course can be accessed at the Broadway Sports Complex on Broadway Avenue at the south end of USI’s campus.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer fell to Eastern Michigan University, 3-1, on Thursday afternoon at Strassweg Field after Eastern Michigan broke up a 1-1 tie with a pair of second-half goals.
 
USI, which was beginning a three-match homestand on Thursday, saw its goal in the contest come off the foot of senior defender Brynn Quick for her first career goal. Overall, the Screaming Eagles notched five shots. Sophomore midfielder Emma Schut led USI with two shots. Between the posts, freshman goalkeeper Merrick Schwalbach made four saves in her first career start.
 
Eastern Michigan registered its three goals off 10 shot attempts with seven shots on target.
 
The Screaming Eagles got an early chance in Thursday’s battle when redshirt sophomore forward Eva Boer, who is the reigning Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week, took a shot inside the box that was blocked and kick-saved away by the EMU goalkeeper.
 
Defenses controlled most of the first half, with shots coming at a premium. USI’s defense thwarted a few shot attempts in the middle of the first stanza. However, Eastern Michigan struck for the opening goal in the 27^th minute on a free kick that deflected in. The game remained 1-0 going into halftime.
 
It was merely four minutes into the second half when Quick scored the equalizer for USI, making the score 1-1. The assists went to redshirt junior midfielder Emma Thurston and senior forward Peyton Murphy, who connected a couple of headers off a corner kick for the eventual tap-in tally by Quick.
 
In the minutes that followed, Eastern Michigan picked up momentum in the attacking half. The EMU Eagles jumped back in front, 2-1, with a goal in the 62^nd minute. Then Eastern Michigan tacked on another with 73:55 on the clock to make it a 3-1 game.
 
USI’s Schut attempted both of her shots on the day inside the final 10 minutes to help spark the Screaming Eagles, but Eastern Michigan maintained its 3-1 advantage into the final whistle.
 
The Screaming Eagles will continue their homestand on Sunday when USI hosts Southern Illinois University at 1 p.m. from Strassweg Field. Admission to Sunday’s match is free courtesy of ProRehab. The match can also be seen with a subscription to ESPN+.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s soccer team will open their 2025 home schedule in a big way on Thursday, welcoming in-state rival and Big Ten foe Purdue to the River City for the first time in program history. Kick-off is set for 6 PM CT at Arad McCutchan Stadium.

Evansville brings a 1-1-0 record into Thursday night’s match, taking down SEMO 4-1 in the season-opener before dropping a 2-1 decision at Lindenwood last Thursday. UE’s attack has gotten off to a hot start, as their five goals through the season’s first two contests is the Aces’ highest-scoring output through two matches since 2008. Purdue enters Thursday’s match with a 2-1-1 record, defeating Indiana State and Ball State before losing to DePaul and tying with Butler.

After being named MVC Player of the Week following her three-point performance against SEMO in the opener, Taylor Johnson scored her second goal of the season at Lindenwood in the team’s last time out. Johnson’s 2.50 points per game leads The Valley, while her two goals and five points put her one shy of single-season career-highs in both categories. Taylor Wehrer has also put together two strong offensive performances, scoring UE’s first goal of the season against SEMO and assisting on Johnson’s goal at Lindenwood. Wehrer leads the Aces with seven shots, while her four shots on goal are the second-most on the team.

Thursday night marks the fifth meeting all-time between Evansville and Purdue and the first since 2015. Purdue has won each of the previous four matchups, including a 1-0 victory in the last meeting between the two sides.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville men’s soccer team completes their two-game southern swing on Thursday with a nationally-ranked test, taking on perennial power and 15th-ranked North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Kick-off is scheduled for 6:30 PM CT from Dorrance Field.

Last Time Out
Evansville picked up a road result over the weekend, playing Mercer to a 1-1 draw on Sunday in Macon, Ga.

For the second game in a row, Evansville fell behind early, as Mercer’s Liam Corr found the back of the net in the 10^th minute of action to give the Bears the lead. Evansville was quick to equalize, however. Taking control of the ball near midfield, Nacho Garcia (Zaragoza, Spain/UNIR) sent a ball down towards the box, where freshman Devin Shepherd (Denver, Colo./Arapahoe) controlled the ball off a Mercer header and chipped a shot over the head of the Mercer keeper to tie the score at one. The goal, coming in 23^rd minute, was the first of Shepherd’s collegiate career.

The score would remain at one going into the half, but the second half saw the Aces take control. Evansville dominated possession throughout the second 45, creating numerous chances, but could not break through to find the winner as the afternoon ended in a 1-1 draw.