Rachel Tam and Alondra Vazquez recorded 12 kills apiece as the University of Evansville volleyball team finished the regular season with a 3-0 loss at Illinois State on Saturday evening.

UE’s duo combined for 24 kills in the contest.  Allana McInnis had 19 assists while Rachel Tam lead the team with 10 digs. Gabriela Macedo added eight to her single season record tally.  Kaylee Martin had a game-high 14 kills for the Redbirds.

Illinois State had its most dominant set to begin the evening, taking a 25-15 win.  UE had a nice start to the set, jumping out to a 6-3 lead with Tam notching her first kill of the night. The defining moment came with the set tied at 11-11.  ISU recorded five points in a row and pulled away to take a 1-0 lead.

Evansville stood strong in the second frame, holding a 14-12 advantage with Tam notching consecutive kills.  It was another 5-0 run that helped the Redbirds; with the score knotted at 18-18, Illinois State would post the next five scores on their way to a 25-22 victory and a 2-0 lead.

In the third game, the Redbirds scooted out to a 15-8 lead on a Kendee Hilliard kill.  Their lead would grow to as many as 10- points at 21-11 before the Aces made a comeback.  Rachel Tam did the serving and Vazquez added a kill as UE cut the deficit to just five points at 21-16.  ISU countered with a Kendal Meier ace and they would hang on to clinch the match on the strength of a 25-20 win.

For the first time since 2008, the Aces will be preparing for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.  UE has clinched either the #5 or #6 seed.  The final spot, opponent and match time will be determined following the final conference matches tonight.

UE men take on Morgan State on Sunday morning

Senior K.J. Riley set his career mark with 28 points, but two George Washington players reached the 20-point mark to lead the Colonials to a 78-70 victory over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Saturday afternoon at the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase.

Evansville (3-3) held an early 5-2 lead, but a late first-half run by the Colonials (2-4) saw them take a 15-point halftime lead before finishing with the 8-point victory.

“The slow starts have been really tough to overcome.  We need to take advantage of our scouting reports and start to come together,” UE head coach Walter McCarty said.  “We played much better in the second half and gave ourselves a chance to win, but the deficit from the first half was hard to overcome.  We have to be better moving forward.”

Evansville enjoyed a much better start to Saturday’s contest, jumping out to a 5-2 advantage.  Jawaun Newton got the Aces on the board as he drove a layup into the basket before K.J. Riley hit his first and-one to make it a 5-2 game.  George Washington would fight back to tie it up at 7-7 before taking a 9-7 edge.

Riley’s second old fashioned 3-point play put the Aces back in front at 10-9, but a hot start for the Colonials continued as they hit five of their first six shots on their way to a 12-10 lead.  Shamar Givance connected on a pair of free throws that tied it at 16-16 with 12:50 remaining.

The final part of the half belonged to George Washington.  They embarked on a 27-12 run to open up a 43-28 advantage in the final minute.  They would hold the 15-point advantage at the half, up 45-30.  Making his first start, Artur Labinowicz scored eight to lead UE in the half.  Maceo Jack had 14 for GW.

Out of the locker room, the Aces performed much better, scoring the first eight points of the half.  After Labinowicz hit a free throw, Newton connected on his second basket of the game.  Labinowicz drained a triple that forced a George Washington time out before Riley finished the run up with two more free throws that made it a 45-38 game two minutes into the second period.

George Washington was able to regain its double figure lead and held that advantage until about five minutes were remaining.  K.J. Riley drained a pair of free throws that cut the deficit to 70-64 with 4:13 on the clock.  After the Colonials pushed it back out to seven, Evansville rallied once again.  A dunk by Labinowicz cut the gap to five at the 2:32 mark.

After forcing two offensive fouls, the Aces got within a possession when Jawaun Newton hit a shot with 1:23 remaining to make it a 73-70 game.  The Aces forced a GW turnover and had a chance to get even closer, but a missed shot turned into a Colonial triple on the other end.  From there, they would pull away by the final of 78-70.

Labinowicz finished the game with 19 points and a team best 8 rebounds.  Riley had another great effort from the line, going 14-of-16.  Armel Potter led George Washington with 25 points while Maceo Jack added 22.  The Colonials outshot the Aces by a 51%-40% tally, but the Aces performed much better on the boards, taking that edge by a 32-31 tally.

Evansville wraps up the tournament on Sunday with a 10 a.m. CT game against Morgan State.

University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball’s second-half rally against host Ferris State University Saturday afternoon came up short as the Screaming Eagles suffered an 86-75 Midwest Region setback to the Bulldogs.

USI (1-1) saw a 10-point halftime deficit balloon to 20 points midway through the third period when it made a charge.

The Eagles cut the deficit to 10 points by the end of the third period and trailed by 73-69 with two minutes to play.

Ferris State (4-1), however, got a three-pointer from freshman guard Mallory McCartney with 1:48 left in the game to extend the Bulldogs’ advantage to seven points. She made six of Ferris State’s 10 free throws inside the final minute of the contest as the Bulldogs were able to repel USI’s late surge.

USI, which led 11-5 early in the contest, was plagued by the turnover bug in the opening half. USI committed 14 first-half turnovers as Ferris State surged to an 18-15 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 41-31 halftime advantage. The Eagles also had two more turnovers early in the third frame as Ferris State led 51-31 and, later, 55-35 before the Eagles could mount a comeback.

Junior guard Emma DeHart and sophomore forward Ashlynn Brown each had 16 points and six rebounds to lead the Eagles. Senior guard Kiara Moseschipped in 12 points, while freshman guard Addy Blackwell finished with 10 points and five rebounds. USI also got nine points and seven assists from senior guard Ashley Johnson.

McCartney finished with 22 points to aid the Bulldogs, while senior guard Riley Blair scorched the Eagles with 27 points, 19 of which came in the firstsecond half.

USI returns to action Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. when it hosts Hillsdale College in a Midwest Region game at Screaming Eagles Arena.

The No. 4 Indiana men’s swimming team overtook No. 12 Georgia for the overall team lead, while the No. 16 women’s team fell to fourth place at Tennessee Invitational at the Jones Aquatic Center after posting a season-best 26 NCAA B Cut times on Friday evening.

Both diving teams opened the 2019 House of Champions event in Indianapolis, hosted by IUPUI. Both groups tackled the platform dive for the first time this season. Junior Mory Gould claimed fourth place with an NCAA Zone Qualifying score of 307.80 to lead all Hoosiers.

TEAM SCORES

Men

No. 4 Indiana – 655 points

No. 12 Georgia – 648 points

No. 8 Tennessee – 555.5 Points

No. 10 Virginia – 359.5 points

Women

No. 2 Tennessee – 737 points

No. 8 Georgia – 663.5 points

No. 4 Virginia – 498.5 points

No. 16 Indiana – 456 points

HOOSIER WINNERS

MEN

Kai Bathurst – 800 freestyle relay (6:22.79)

Brendan Burns – 800 freestyle relay (6:22.79)

Jakub Karl – 800 freestyle relay (6:22.79)

Mohamed Samy – 200 freestyle (1:33.65); 800 freestyle relay (6:22.79)

Jacob Steele – 100 backstroke (46.35)

WOMEN

None.