Andres Rodriguez picks up top finish for UE

 RICHMOND, Ky. – Led by a top 20 finish from Andres Rodriguez, the University of Evansville men’s golf team earned a tie for 5^th place at the Colonel Shootout at The University Club at Arlington.

In Sunday’s final round, Rodriguez carded a 2-over 73 and finished the 3-round tournament with a 1-over-par 214.  He tied for 17^th place and had a low round of 70 to open play on Saturday.

Taking second on the Purple Aces squad and tying for 27^th on the leaderboard was Omar Khalid.  Carding a 2-over 73 in the final round, he wrapped up the weekend with a 217.  Behind him was the duo of Luke Schneider and Bryce Conlee.  Both completed the event with a 9-over 222.  Schneider posted a 78 on Sunday while Conlee shot a 75.  They tied for 44^th place.

Luke Price tied for 60^th place with a final score of 227 while Daniil Romashkin was one shot behind with a 228.  He finished in 63^rd.

Finishing at 19-over, UE tied Kentucky State for 5^th place in the final standings.  Eastern Kentucky, who wrapped up the three rounds at 24-under, were 18 ahead of runner-up Samford.  Connor Gdovin of EKU and Ben Loomis from Vanderbilt tied for the individual win with scores of 206, seven under.

Evansville’s next tournament will be the Graeme McDowell Invitational in Birmingham, Ala.  It will take place from Sept. 22-24.

Kate Petrova leads UE on first day

 NORMAL, Ill. – Day one of the Redbird Invitational saw Kate Petrova pace the University of Evansville women’s golf team.  UE heads into Monday’s final round in 10^th place at Weibring Golf Club.

Petrova is tied for 14^th place with a 148.  Identical rounds at 2-over 74 have Petrova just three strokes outside of the top five.  In her first tournament for the Purple Aces, Louise Standtke was second on the team.  After carding a 77 to open the event, she shot a 3-over 75 to finish with a 152.  She is tied for 30^th place.

Third on the team was Elizabeth Mercer.  She carded an 81 in the opening round before lowering her score by five strokes in the second round of 18.  A 76 has her tied for the 57^th position.  Mallory Russell opened at 4-over-par, posting a 76 before notching an 83 to complete the day.  She has a 159.  Jane Grankina checks in with a 160.  Her rounds finished at 82 and 78.

Trinity Dubbs is competing as an individual and registered scores of 78 and 83.

Illinois State holds a commanding lead in the team standings.  With two rounds in the books, the Redbirds stand at 13-under.  Little Rock is in second place at 14-over, 27 strokes behind ISU.  Evansville is in 10^th place, finishing 35 over.  Monday will mark the final 18 holes of the tournament.

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Golf team continued their hot start to the 2024 Fall season over the weekend by picking up another tournament victory at the 2024 Vincennes University Fall Invitational at Cypress Hills Golf Club.

VU freshman and Vincennes native Parker Steininger (Vincennes, Ind.) came away as the tournament medalist after winning a two-hole playoff against teammate and fellow VU freshman Kadin Gibson (Franklin, Ind.) by sinking a birdie putt on hole 10.

Steininger used the home course to his advantage over the weekend, posting a two-over 72 on Saturday before climbing up the leaderboard Sunday morning with an even par 70 to finish with a two-round total of 142.

Kadin Gibson ended the first day of the 36-hole tournament with an even par 70, putting him at the top of the leaderboard after 18, before returning Sunday to post a 72.

Freshman Landon Gardner (Danville, Ind.) was the next VU scorer on the final leaderboard, finishing his tournament with an opening round 74 and a 71 in Sunday’s final round for a total score of 145 and a third-place finish.

Freshman Brock Naile (Trico, Ill.) was the fourth VU golfer to crack the top five, posting a 71 on Saturday and a 75 on Sunday to finish fourth overall for the tournament.

Sophomore Alex Nealis (Olney, Ill.) rounded out the Trailblazers team scorers over the weekend by shooting a 76 on Saturday and a 72 on Sunday to place sixth overall.

The Trailblazers as a team posted another weekend of outstanding scores, finishing with a team total of seven over par Saturday and five over par on Sunday for a tournament total score of 572, 38 shots ahead of the second place team.

“The team played really well,” VU Hall of Fame Golf Coach Dennis Chattin said. “I do mean team because we had five of the top six players in the tournament.”

“This was a really good win,” Chattin added. “It’s really nice to actually have a home tournament on your home course. We haven’t been able to do that in over 10 years. The people at Cypress Hills have made the course a good golf course again. I can’t thank Joe Lancaster, who is the greenskeeper, Kale Whitaker, the club pro and all the owners for the effort they have put into it.”

“It was great to have the guys step up with those really good rounds in the tournament,” Chattin said. “Parker and Kadin shooting a 36-hole total of two-over par is really good. They got the chance to experience a playoff, which is good for them. I told them they might be doing that for a chance to qualify for the National Championship someday and while it’s not quite the same pressure as playing a teammate for the win as a chance to play in the championship, I’m sure they had a lot of pride in doing so.”

VU freshmen Matthew Mills (Boonville, Ind.), Brayden Gough (Tuscola, Ill.) and sophomore Jackson Stone (Vincennes, Ind.) also competed in the Invitational this weekend as individuals.

Mills came away with a 16th place finish with a pair of eight over 78 rounds, while Stone finished 28th with an 86 on Saturday and an 82 on Sunday and Gough took 33rd place overall with an 87 and an 89.

The Trailblazer Golf team will look to continue this hot start in two weeks when VU heads to the IU East Invitational hosted at Delaware Country Club in Muncie, Ind.

This will be a one-day tournament, scheduled for Friday, Sept. 20.

“We are going to have a really good test coming up on the 20th when we play in Muncie at a tournament with four-year schools that IU East is hosting,” Chattin said. “It’s always fun to bump off the four year guys so we will see if we are up to the task.”

GAINESVILLE, Fla.- University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (2-4) ran into a buzz saw in the finale of the Florida Invitational against University of South Florida in a sweep (18-25, 21-25, 14-25). USF were the champions of the invitational going 3-0.
 
The Screaming Eagles struggled to stop a massive USF late ran, falling 18-25 in set one. Senior Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indiana) helped the Eagles stay within one point at 19-18 with eight assists. Senior Paris Downing (Avon, Indiana) smacked three early kills. The Bulls rallied for six straight points to clinch the early lead. USI tallied a match-high ten kills in set one.
 
USI battled USF trading points that included multiple strenuous rallies, but fell 21-25 in set two. The Eagles built an early 4-1 lead off a kill and block from junior Bianca Anderson (Chicago Heights, Illinois). Freshman Kerigan Fehr (Fairbury, Illinois) tallied a huge service ace to give her four on the weekend making it an 8-5 Eagles lead. Senior Lauren O’Neill (Covington, Indiana) stepped into the game making an immediate impact with a block, giving USI a 18-17 lead. However, the Bulls went on an 8-3 stretch to win the set.
 
South Florida exploded in the third set for 18 kills, finishing the Eagles 16-25. Sobieralski gave the Eagles consistency all weekend placing four perfect assists, giving the Eagles an early 7-4 lead. Sophomore Leah Coleman (Hoover, Alabama) and O’Neill swatted two kills as the Eagles trailed USF 11-10. The Bulls finished with multiple runs including a 9-1 finish to clinch the match.
 
Sophomore Ashby Willis (Mount Carmel, Illinois) Anderson, and Coleman each collected six kills. Sobieralski led the Eagles with 23 assists ending her five-game streak of double-doubles with just six. Junior Keira Moore (Newburgh, Indiana) led the squad with nine digs while senior Abby Weber (Fishers, Indiana) and Fehr both added aces. Anderson swatted three blocks as she’s average 4.2 per game.
 
As a team, USI finished with 27 kills, 25 assists, 34 digs, two aces, six blocks, and a .112 attacking percentage. The Bulls tallied 47 kills, 44 assists, 46 digs, seven aces, five blocks, and a .286 hitting percentage. USI leaves Gainesville stronger after playing the country’s top competition with numerous positive moments.
 

MACON, Ga. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Soccer finished its five-game, season-opening road swing with a 2-0 loss at Mercer University Sunday morning in Macon, Georgia. The Screaming Eagles are 0-5-0, while the Bears go to 3-1-2.
 
The Eagles fell behind early in the match as the Bears had a 2-0 lead after the first 45 minutes. Mercer, which had the momentum throughout the first half with a 10-3 lead in shots, posted the first tally at 8:11 and doubled its lead with another goal at 26:51.
 
It was a scoreless draw between the two squads in the second half. Mercer maintained control of the match with 10-4 lead in shots and an 8-2 lead in corners. USI sophomore forward Jackson Mitchell (Newburgh, Indiana) led the Eagles with three shots.
 
Between the posts for USI, sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Klott (St. Charles, Missouri) faced 20 total shots, allowing a pair of goals and making four saves.
 
NEXT UP FOR USI:
The Eagles will appear at Strassweg Field for the first time in the 2024 regular season Saturday when they host former GLVC-rival Bellarmine University. Kickoff Saturday is slated for 7 p.m. and will be the annual USI Gold Game to promote awareness of childhood cancers. 
 
The USI-Bellarmine contest is the start of a five-match homestand for the Eagles that includes the start of 2024 Ohio Valley Conference slate. The homestand, which is USI’s longest of the season, also includes meetings with Purdue University Ft. Wayne (September 17); Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (September 25), Eastern Illinois University (September 28) and Lindenwood University (October 3).
 
USI has a 25-16-2 all-time series lead over Bellarmine, dating back to the beginning of the Great Lakes Valley Conference in 1979. The Eagles have the advantage in the last 10 matches, 5-3-2, but the Knights have won the last two (2-0 in 2022; 5-1 in 2019).