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USI Women’s XC back on top of GLVC
University of Southern Indiana Women’s Cross Country returned to the top of the of the Great Lakes Valley Conference mountain Saturday morning at Angel Mounds as the No. 22 Screaming Eagles edged No. 11 Southwest Baptist University to capture their 10th conference title in the last 12 years and league-record 13th overall.
The Eagles got a huge boost from their No. 4-7 runners as they finished the GLVC Championships with 48 points, eight in front of the Bearcats, to earn their first title since 2017.
Southwest Baptist jumped out to a big lead as a pair of Bearcats—individual winner and GLVC Runner of the Year Elysia Burgos as well as GLVC Freshman of the Year Tesa Valdivia—finished in front of USI’s top finisher.
Junior Jennifer Comastri was the first to cross the finish line for the Eagles as the Indianapolis native was fifth with a six-kilometer time of 21 minutes, 51.45. Senior Hope Jones was sixth with a time of 21:55.75, but the Bearcats’ No. 3 runner, Tabitha Weber, finished seventh, two spots ahead of USI’s No. 3, freshman Presley Warren.
Down by eight points with three runners across the finish line, the Eagles’ scored a three-point win at No. 4 as junior Dorian Langlois posted a 13th-place finish. Freshman Mckenna Cavanaugh, USI’s No. 5 finisher, out-kicked Southwest Baptist’s No. 4 finisher for 15th. The gap between Cavanaugh and Southwest Baptist’s No. 5 proved significant as the Eagles also placed their No. 6 and No. 7 finishers in front of the Bearcats’ No. 5, who was 28th overall.
Rounding out USI’s top seven runners was freshman Aubrey Swart, who was 21st in the 143-competitor field, and sophomore Emma Brown who finished 25th.
Comastri, Jones, Warren, Langlois and Cavanaugh all were named All-GLVC due to their top-15 finishes, while Head Coach Mike Hillyard earned GLVC Coach of the Year honors for the 27th time in his career—Hillyard collected his 28th GLVC Coach of the Year honor following the men’s race.
The University of Indianapolis, last year’s GLVC champion, finished third in the 14-team field, while Rockhurst University and Missouri S&T respectively rounded out the top five teams.
USI returns to action November 9 when it hosts the NCAA II Midwest Region Championships at Angel Mounds. The women’s 6k is slated for a 10:30 a.m. start time, while the men’s 10k is scheduled to begin at 11:45 a.m.
Eagles fall to Bellarmine to close road stretch
The University of Southern Indiana volleyball team fell in straight sets to Bellarmine University in Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday afternoon, by scores of 25-11, 25-19 and 25-18.
The Screaming Eagles (11-13, 3-6 GLVC) managed just a .061 hitting clip as a unit and just 22 kills for the match, compared to 47 kills on a .267 mark for the Knights. USI did out-block Bellarmine, seven to one.
Senior middle blocker Amanda Jung led the effort for USI with six kills, a .385 hitting percentage and a pair of blocks. Freshman outside hitter Leah Anderson and senior outside hitter Lindsey Stose each added five kills, with Anderson tying Jung with two blocks.
USI Volleyball returns to Evansville for a four-match GLVC homestand, beginning November 1 with nationally-ranked Lewis University.
HOT JOBS IN EVANSVILLE
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USI nearly knocks off Indianapolis in five sets
The University of Southern Indiana volleyball team fell on the road in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at the University of Indianapolis in five sets Friday night, 25-20, 16-25, 26-28, 25-21, 15-11. Freshman outside hitter Leah Anderson posted her fifth double-double of the season with a 17-kill, 11-dig effort while freshman right side hitter Katherine Koch added a season-high 14 kills on a .375 hitting cip to lead the Screaming Eagles against the Greyhounds.
Both squads turned the contest into a defensive match, combining for 18 blocks (10 by USI) while holding each other under the .200 mark for team hitting percentage. Anderson led the match with six blocks, followed by senior middle blocker Amanda Jung with five.
The Screaming Eagles (11-12, 3-5 GLVC) paced the match in numerous categories, finding advantages in kills (59-54), blocks (10-8), hitting percentage (.195-.171) and service aces (11-7) over the host Indianapolis.
The Eagles fell behind early in the opening set, trailing by as many as seven points at 21-14. USI had more attack errors (6) than kills (2) to open the frame before rattling off 10 kills to just two errors to close the gap to just three points before eventually dropping the set. Anderson, senior middle hitter Elexis Coleman and sophomore middle blocker Sidney Hegg each snatched three kills in the opener.
USI pounced on the Greyhounds right away in the second as the Eagles found themselves an 11-3 lead. Anderson led the momentum with three kills in the first 11 points. The Eagles pinned down UIndy’s attack, forcing the host team into a negative .200 hitting mark at the net. Koch closed down UIndy with three kills late, pushing her total to six through two.
Anderson and Koch each eclipsed double digits in kills in the third frame as the Eagles dropped 16 kills on the Greyhounds, while holding UIndy to a .091 hitting clip. USI needed every bit of its 14-7 set-opening run to hold on as UIndy came back to force extra points before Anderson notched a pair of her six kills to close it out.
The heated battle to close the third frame continued through the final two sets, as neither team amassed a lead larger than four points. The in-state foes racked up 16 tied scores and seven lead changes over that span.
Swimming & Diving Sweep Valpo
The University of Evansville men’s and women’s swimming and diving team traveled to take on conference opponent Valparaiso, Friday night.
The Purple Aces swept Valpo with the women winning 106-99 points, while the men won 154-51.
Sarah Jahns captured first place in the 1000-yard freestyle in 10:40.33, while she also took second in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:19.45.
Maya Cunningham finished in first place in the 200-yard IM after a 2:13.53 race and then took second place in the 100-yard fly at a 1:00.48 pace.
Earning a pair of top two finishes, Jessie Steele took first in the 100-yard freestyle (55.23), while also taking second in the 50-yard free at 25.87.
Zeke Metz earned two championship races, with a 1:44.11 200-yard freestyle and a 4:50.26 500-yard free.
In the shorter freestyle events, Riccardo Di Domenico took first in both the 50-yard (21.76) and the 100-yard (46.82).
Credence Pattinson carded a first-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke (50.98) and the 50-yard freestyle (21.86).
The women are back in action on Nov. 2 in a tri-meet with Arkansas Little Rock and Indiana State at Wyttenbach Pool, before both teams return at Birmingham-Southern on Nov. 9.
Aces rally against Bulldogs falls just short
UE drops hard-fought match
Redshirt senior Gabriela Macedo reset her own program dig mark and tied the Missouri Valley Conference mark but her efforts could not help the University of Evansville volleyball team overcome a 2-0 deficit as they fell to Drake by a 3-2 final on Friday at Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
Macedo’s new program mark stands at 46 digs, which is the new UE (14-6, 5-4 MVC) record and tied Cara Hackmann’s MVC record. Ironically enough – Hackmann, who played at Missouri State, set that record against Evansville in 2009. Rachel Tam led the offense with 24 kills while Alondra Vazquez posted 22 and Melanie Feliciano had 10. Hannah Watkins had six block assists and a pair of solo blocks while Allana McInnis led everyone with 58 assists.
Leading Drake (8-14, 2-7 MVC) was Emily Plock, who notched 20 kills.
A blazing start by Drake saw them record the first six points of the night, including a pair of service aces. Kills by Patricia Joseph and Melanie Feliciano got UE on the board, but the Bulldogs added to their advantage, going up 13-4. Cecilia Thon notched an ace that started a 4-0 stretch, which continued into a 7-1 run that cut the DU lead to 14-11. The Bulldogs got back on track and pushed their lead back to six at 22-16 before the Aces rallied once more. Thon took over serving duties and saw the team get within a pair at 22-20 on a block from Allana McInnis and Hannah Watkins, but the Bulldogs were able to hang on to open the match with a 25-23 win.
Patricia Joseph gave the Aces their first lead of the night in game two when her kill made it a 4-3 game. Watkins and McInnis combined for their third block of the evening to push the lead to 8-6, but the Bulldogs came right back, going back in front by a 15-11 tally. Trailing 19-15, UE made another late rally. Kills from Watkins and Feliciano made it a 1-point game at 19-18. The Aces rallied to go back in front by a 24-23 score with Tam and Alondra Vazquez registering kills, but Drake fought back again with two in a row to go back in front and finish with the victory.
UE came out of the gate in great shape to start the third set with Vazquez recording two kills to give the Aces a 5-1 lead. Evansville not only maintained the lead, but added to it with service aces by McInnis and Feliciano extending the lead to 16-7. Another ace from Feliciano gave the Aces a double figure lead and they would cruise to a 25-10 victory to cut the match deficit to 2-1.
Another blazing start saw the Aces take a 6-1 lead in the fourth game with Tam adding two kills to her tally. Hannah Watkins continued to anchor the defense and her second solo block of the evening continued what was a 10-2 start for Evansville. UE padded that lead when a Vazquez kill made it a 19-9 game and tied the match at 2-2 thanks to a 25-15 decision.
The 22nd kill of the night for Vazquez gave UE a 3-2 lead to begin the fifth before Drake stormed back with four in a row to go up 6-3. The Aces worked to claw their way back when a Vazquez ace got UE within a pair at 8-6, but the Bulldogs did not let UE get any closer as they extended their lead to the final of 15-8.
Eagles lose heartbreaker in overtime
University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer lost a heartbreaker in overtime, 2-1, at Truman State University Friday afternoon in Kirksville, Missouri. The Eagles go to 9-4-1 overall and are 7-4-1 GLVC, while Truman State is 7-6-1 overall, 7-5-0 GLVC.
USI trailed after the first 45 minutes with Truman State taking a 1-0 lead into the intermission on a goal at 16:01. The Bulldog lead would last through the intermission and much of the second half.
The Eagles got the equalizer with 4:35 left on the clock when sophomore defender Elizabeth Lippert posted her first goal of the season. Lippert was assisted by freshman midfielder Madison Crawford.
It was all Truman State in the overtime period as it had all of the shots (3) and scored the game-winner with 1:29 left on the clock.
USI concludes its road trip with a visit to Quincy University Sunday at noon in Quincy, Illinois. The Hawks, who are 5-8-0 overall and 4-7-0 GLVC, host McKendree University this evening.
Quincy leads the all-time series with USI, 16-6-1, and has won the last seven matches versus the Eagles after posting a 2-1 win at Quincy last fall. USI senior midfielder Emilie Blomenkamp had the Eagles’ lone goal versus the Hawks in the 2018 loss.
