FOOTNOTE: EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.
VU Golf off to excellent start after winning at LTC Fall Invitational
ROBINSON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Golf team got their 2024 Fall season started off in a big way Friday by winning the 36-hole, one day 2024 Lincoln Trail College Fall Invitational at Quail Creek Country Club.
The Blazers took the top spot in the four-team field, posting a two-round team total of 600 with a 305 first round and a very impressive 295 second round.
Vincennes had four golfers place in the top five on the individual leaderboard, led by freshman Brock Naile (Trico, Ill.) who placed second overall in his collegiate debut after posting a first round 75 and an even par 72 in round two for a tournament total of 147.
Freshman Landon Gardner (Danville, Ind.) followed Naile with a very consistent tournament, posting a final of three-over 75 in both rounds to place third overall in his first collegiate tournament.
Freshman Kadin Gibson (Franklin, Ind.), also making his collegiate debut, had the biggest round-to-round improvement for the Blazers, posting a first round 78 before bouncing back with a one-over par 73 in round two to climb the leaderboard to place fourth overall.
Sophomore Alex Nealis (Olney, Ill.) rounded out the VU top five finishers, posting an opening round 77 and coming back in the afternoon round with a 75 to finish with a tournament total of 152 to place in a tie for fifth place on the leaderboard.
The Vincennes University day on the course was rounded out by a top 10 finish by freshman Parker Steininger (Vincennes, Ind.) who, in his first college tournament, finished with a first round 80 and a second round 79 to finish in a tie for 10th overall.
“We had a great outing winning our first event,” VU Hall of Fame Golf Coach Dennis Chattin said. “Quail Creek is a really good test for our first outing and shooting 305-295 was really good for this early. This course has a 72.6 rating and a 135 slope, so it isn’t a pushover course.”
“The greens were a little slower than we were used to but the guys seemed to adjust quickly,” Chattin added. “I tell them good players adjust, great players adjust quickly.”
“Brock Naile shooting 75, 72 in his first college event was very good,” Chattin said. “He is a competitor and had it under in the second round for a while but he still had the low second round and finished runner-up in the tournament.”
“We had four guys in the top five of the tournament, so the consistency of scores is a really big deal,” Chattin added. “That’ how you have a good team. I’m excited about the good start, so I just hope we can build on that.”
The Trailblazers will look to keep the early season momentum going when the Blazers hit the course in their next tournament Saturday, Sept. 7 and Sunday, Sept. 8 at the Vincennes University Fall Invitational at Cypress Hills Golf Club in Vincennes.
VUVB has tough start to weekend after dropping two five set thrillers
VUVB has tough start to weekend after dropping two five set thrillers
PERRYSBURG, Ohio – The Vincennes University volleyball team suffered their first set back of the 2024 season Friday morning at the 2024 Owens Community College Tournament in Ohio.
The Trailblazers dropped a pair of five set matches Friday to begin the two-day tournament, first against Mott Community College from Flint, Mich. 21-25, 25-21, 13-25, 25-22, 12-15, before later closing out the opening day of the tournament against NJCAA Division II No. 8-ranked Richard Bland College from Virginia 18-25, 25-22, 25-10, 20-25, 12-15.
Vincennes began the day in a very tight contest with an evenly matched Mott Community College.
The opening set was back and forth with each team seemingly taking advantage of long scoring runs before Mott pulled away at the end, scoring the final three points of the set to take set one 25-21.
VU looked to bounce back in set two and quickly built themselves a 12-10 advantage.
After trading side outs, the Blazers slammed the door shut in set two by scoring the final four points to even the match with a 25-21 set two victory.
Set three saw Mott get their chance to answer back and the Bears did not waste an opportunity, grabbing the momentum early and pulling away late to take set three 25-13 and earn a 2-1 match lead.
Vincennes looked to have their backs against the wall early in set four, needing a win to force a fifth set, VU found themselves behind early 8-2.
Mott continued to add pressure throughout the fourth set, getting the lead to 17-9 before Vincennes put together a big 8-0 scoring run to even the score at 17-17.
VU would ride this momentum, scoring six out of the last seven points of the set to take set four 25-22 and force a winner-take-all fifth set.
Set five really showed how evenly matched these teams were as both sides traded side outs throughout most of the fifth set, with Mott getting the advantage late with three unanswered points and would hang on to take set five and the match 15-12.
“We had some major challenges going into the weekend,” VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. “This included being down three players. We fought hard and had our chances but it wasn’t enough. We switched to a 5-1 offense to change things up.”
The VU offense was led in match one by sophomore Laura Tavares (Merida, Venezuela) who had a big game with 17 kills, two blocks and two digs.
Sophomore Isadora Dias (Rio Grande de Norte, Brazil) also reached double digit kills in match one, recording a double-double with 10 kills, 14 digs, two blocks and one set assist.
Sophomores Allison Czyzewski (Louisville, Ill.) and Elisa Dalla Pozza (Vincenza, Italy) were constant figures at the net for the Blazers with Czyzewski finishing with six kills, three blocks and one set assist, while Dalla Pozza added four kills, a team-high seven blocks and three digs.
Sophomore setter Libby Mehringer (Jasper, Ind.) matched Dalla Pozza’s four kills, while also running the VU offense very efficiently on her way to her second double-double of the season with 28 set assists, 11 digs, two aces and one block.
Freshman Karen Kodi (West Carrollton, Ohio) ended match one with two kills, one block and one dig while fellow freshman Martyna Sadowska (Pila, Poland) added one kill and five blocks.
Sophomore Dylan DeCoursey (Montgomery, Ind.) rounded out the VU offensive numbers, getting one kill to go along with eight digs and a pair of set assists.
Defensively the Blazers were led by sophomore libero Grace Flexter (Oblong, Ill.) who matched Dias for the team lead in digs with 14, while also adding two set assists and one ace.
Freshman Ashley Earp (Mattoon, Ill.) also saw some floor time in match one, recording five digs.
The Trailblazers would then look to turn things around and close out the opening day of the tournament on a high note in game two of the day against NJCAA Division II No. 8-ranked Richard Bland College.
Richard Bland would grab the early momentum in set one, using a 10-1 scoring run to build an 18-8 advantage before closing out the first set 25-18 to take the 1-0 match lead.
Vincennes again looked to answer back in set two and were able to get ahead early with a quick 8-5 lead and later expanding the lead to 14-9.
Richard Bland would fight back and even the score at 22-22 but were unable to retake the lead as VU closed out set two 25-22 and evened the match at 1-1.
Vincennes again rode the early momentum in set three, grabbing a quick 15-7 advantage over the Statesmen closing out the set strong by scoring seven of the final eight points to take set three 25-10 and grab the 2-1 match lead.
This time it was Richard Bland’s turn to try and force a fifth set and early in set four the Statesmen appeared determined to extend the match.
Richard Bland held a 12-6 lead before VU answered back to take the lead back at 15-14.
The lead changed hands several times down the stretch of set four before Richard Bland took firm control and closed out set four 25-20 to send this match to a fifth set.
The Statesmen clearly had the early momentum in set five, opening the winner-take-all set by scoring the first five points, which were immediately answered by the Trailblazers to even the score at 5-5.
The score would remain tied at 9-9 before Richard Bland closed out the match with a pair of two-for-one rallies and take set five and the match 15-12.
“In both matches today, we did well in the front row with hitting and blocking,” Sien added. “But both teams out passed us and won points in crucial moments. It is hard to stay in a match when you have big problems with serve reception.”
“I thought Libby had a good match in running the offense and being an offensive force herself,” Sien said. “Isadora also had a good all-around match. Brooklyn came in and had double digit digs for us in the back row as well.”
The VU offense was again led by the sophomore hitting duo of Isadora Dias and Laura Tavares in match two of the day.
Dias led the Blazers with 14 kills, six digs, two blocks, two set assists and one ace, while Tavares also reached double-figures with 12 kills, three blocks and three digs.
Sophomore setter Libby Mehringer was just short of another double-double on the day, finishing match two with nine kills to go along with a team-high 27 set assists, four digs and two aces.
Elisa Dalla Pozza and Martyna Sadowska each finished the second match of the day with five kills, while Dalla Pozza again led the Blazers with four blocks, two aces, one dig and one set assist and Sadowska added two blocks, two digs and one set assist.
The VU offense was rounded out by Allison Czyzewski, who finished with two kills, two blocks and one set assist.
DEFENDANT SENTENCED TO 30 YEARS IN INFANT CO-SLEEPING DEATH CASE
Evansville, IN – Prosecutor Diana Moers announces that on August 26, 2024, Taylor Alexis Smith was sentenced to 30 years in the Indiana Department of Correction following a guilty verdict in July on Neglect of a Dependent Resulting in Death, a Level 1 Felony; Possession of Methamphetamine, a Level 6 Felony; Unlawful Possession of Syringe, a Level 6 Felony; and Possession of Paraphernalia; a Class C Misdemeanor. The Honorable Magistrate Judge Celia M. Pauli of the Vanderburgh County Circuit Court presided.
On June 8, 2022, Officers were dispatched to 27 W. Oregon Street in reference to an unresponsive infant. First responders made several attempts to resuscitate the infant, but the 13-day-old baby was declared deceased on-scene. The home was extremely unsanitary, lacking running water and appropriate sleeping space for the infant. Taylor Smith, the infant’s mother, admitted to recent methamphetamine use and co-sleeping with her baby which ultimately led to the infant’s death.
Infant Wade Wilson was born on May 27, 2024, and tested positive on drug screens for methamphetamine at birth. The Department of Child Services and Vanderburgh County Juvenile Court ordered the Defendant, Taylor Smith, not to have contact with her son. Despite this order, Smith continued to have contact with Wade Wilson and actively use methamphetamine. Smith was consistently warned against the risks of her drug use to her newborn child’s life and was also warned of the dangers of co-sleeping with her child. Despite the persistent warnings, the Defendant continued to engage in these behaviors.
Prosecutor Moers comments: “Every infant death case that ends up in criminal court is preventable. We must be diligent as a society to assist and hold parents who are struggling with addiction accountable and get them the resources they need – their child’s life often depends on it. Unfortunately, some parents are a danger to their own children and their disregard of that fact can have a tragic end. Our community has a plethora of resources to help parents who are struggling for any reason – any with concerns can start by contacting my office for a list of these resources.
Our job is to hold folks accountable. This mother is responsible for the death of her child, despite the community’s efforts to help her. She disobeyed the orders of the court to stay away from her infant and was also given access to her by others. Now, she willspend 30 years of her life in a prison hours away from Vanderburgh County knowing that she is responsible for the death of her own innocent baby. This should serve as a warning to all in the community to take dangerous parental behavior seriously – in yourself and others.
I should never have to prosecute one of these cases. Parents have a duty to keep their homes clean, feed and nurture their children properly, and do their most basic responsibility of keeping them alive and parenting them while free from drugs. If they do not, we will ask that they be sent to prison.
Baby Wade will continue to be in our hearts and his precious, short time here on earth will inspire us to continue working to ensure we keep babies safe and hold any who do not uphold this duty accountable.”
Prosecutor Moers thanks Detective Karin Montgomery and Officer John Pieszchalski for their response and thorough investigation in this case, the American Medical Response and Evansville Fire Department for their efforts to save the infant and daily efforts to serve citizens of Vanderburgh County, the Department of Child Services, Deaconess Hospital, and the Indiana State Police for their efforts in this case. Prosecutor Moers extends a special thank you to her Deputy Ian Blair whose specialization in prosecuting child abuse and neglect cases led to success in this case, and all her office staff including Winston Lin, Kiersten Butler, Morgan Richardville, Tony Carden, and Jessica Pollock who assisted in this case to bring justice to Vanderburgh for the reckless death of a baby.
The infant’s father, Timothy Allen Wilson, is also charged with a series of crimes in connection with this case and is awaiting trial in October.
Eagles earn a split in CEFCU double-header
PEORIA, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (1-1) kicked off the 2024 campaign in style at the Renaissance Coliseum on Friday morning winning three-straight sets (19-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-23) against the University of St. Thomas, 3-1. The Screaming Eagles finished the day with a narrow loss to a high-powered Depaul University, 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 15-25, 25-22, 10-15) to open the season at the CEFCU Invitational, hosted by Bradley University.
USI vs. St. Thomas
The Eagles fell behind early as the Tommies landed the first blow, winning set one 25-19. Both teams went back and forth as senior Jasmine Green (Rockwall, Texas) tied it at 14-14. The Tommies erupted with an 11-5 late run to win the set and gain an early lead. USI made nine costly attacking errors. Sophomore Leah Coleman (Hoover, Alabama) led the Eagles with four kills.
USI found their rhythm in set two, tying the match at one with a riveting 25-23 victory. The Eagles used a variety of attackers as six different players contributed a kill. The match was knotted at 21, before sophomore Ashby Willis (Mount Carmel, Illinois) smashed two kills and a service ace to clinch the match. USI collected a set-high 19 kills.
The Eagles found themselves down 14-20 in set three, before rattling off 11 straight points to win 25-20. The rally was sparked by forcing multiple attacking errors and two huge blocks from senior Paris Downing (Avon, Indiana).
USI won another close set to secure their first 2024 victory in four sets, winning 25-23. Green fired home six clutch kills in her return to the Renaissance Coliseum, coming to USI as a graduate senior from Bradley University. She had six kills in set four, finishing with a career-high 18 kills along with a stellar .517 hitting percentage in her USI debut. Coleman also played a huge role spiking a career-high 13 kills.
Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indina) started 2024 strong with a team-leading 49 assists. Junior Keira Moore (Newburgh, Indiana) (28 digs) and Willis (22 digs) held down the fort defensively. Downing added five pivotal blocks as the team leader.
As a team, the Eagles tallied 61 kills off 58 assists along with 101 digs and 14 blocks. St. Thomas finished with 47 kills, 46 assists, 84 digs, and 18 blocks.
USI vs. Depaul
The Blue Demons took the early lead with a ferocious .205 attacking percentage, winning set one 25-23. USI started strong leading 8-3 off seven kills from Green and Willis. Depaul roared back taking advantage of nine USI errors.
USI earned the final three points of set two, tying the match at one, 25-21. Junior Jordan Troutman (Henderson, Kentucky) and Sobieralski combined for nine assists. Green emphatically finished two of her career-best 19 kills to clinch it. Depaul adjusted in set three holding the Eagles to six kills, winning 25-15. After three sets, Moore led USI defensively with 19 digs.
USI used another balanced attack as senior Lauren O’Neill (Covington, Indiana), sophomore Mariah Minor (Indianapolis, Indiana), Green, Anderson, Coleman, and Sobieralski all collected kills forcing a fifth match, 25-22. The Eagles ran out of steam in set five, dropping the final match 15-10.
Green was the offensive leader with another career-high performance of 19 kills. Sobieralski recorded a double-double with 24 assists and 18 digs, while Troutman came off the bench adding 18 assists and four service aces. Willis’ 22 digs marked a career-high for the sophomore, along with Anderson leading the team in blocks with five.
Both teams statistical totals were nearly identical as USI recorded 54 kills, 53 assists, 88 digs, and 14 blocks. The Blue Demons finished with 53 kills, 53 assists, 90 digs, and 16 blocks.
NEXT UP FOR THE EAGLES
USI is back in action tomorrow night against the host squad, Bradley University Braves at 4:30 p.m. No live broadcast will be available, but stay tuned to live stats at usiscreamingeagles.com.
Aces drop season opener to Akron
Gonzalez Maltes leads UE with 13 kills
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Angelica Gonzalez Maltes tallied a team-high 13 kills as the University of Evansville volleyball team fell to Akron by a 3-0 final at Coliseu Mario Morales.
Melanie Feliciano posted 11 kills while Giulia Cardona added seven. Feliciano added eight digs to lead UE while Kora Ruff finished with 30 assists. Emanouela Christodoulou had a match-best 15 kills to lead Akron in the win as the Zips finished the night hitting .409.
Game 1 – Akron 25, UE 19
After Akron opened an early 4-1 edge, Angelica Gonzalez Maltes recorded a pair of kills to cut the deficit to 6-4 before a Giulia Cardona kill made it a 1-point game at 7-6. The Zips quickly regrouped to go up 15-7 before UE cut into the deficit once again.
Krystell Pappas notched an ace to get her squad back within five at 19-14, but a late surge by the Zips saw them open the evening with a 25-19 decision.
Game 2 – Akron 25, UE 17
Evansville faced another early deficit with the Zips jumping out to a 5-2 lead. UE quickly made its way back, tying the game at 5-5, but another run by Akron set them up with an 11-8 lead before extending it to 15-9, forcing the Aces to use their second time out of the set. From there, Akron held strong, cruising to a 25-17 win and a 2-0 match lead.
Game 3 – Akron 25, UE 21
It was the Aces with the big start in the third set, picking up the opening four points of the game. Gonzalez Maltes added a pair of kills that made it a 7-2 game while Lexi Owen added a kill on the ensuing rally to force Akron to use a time out. The stoppage worked to the Zips advantage as they posted the next five before extending the run to take their first advantage at 10-9.
UE posted the next tally to tie it up as the squads battled to a 16-16 score. The Zips registered the ensuing seven points to retake control, but the Aces staged a furious late rally. Melanie Feliciano notched her 11th kill of the evening to cap a 5-1 stretch that made it a 24-21 game. The rally came up just short with Akron taking the frame by a 25-21 score to clinch the match.
On Saturday, the Aces face the University of Puerto Rico – Rio Piedras at 6 p.m. CT.
Otters’ offense arrives too late to open series
CRESTWOOD, Ill. – Moving across the Chicago suburbs, the Evansville Otters continued their final road trip of the year by dropping a contest to the Windy City ThunderBolts 5-3 on Friday night at Ozinga Field.
Drawing first blood in the opening frame, the ThunderBolts (39-56) plated three to begin the night offensively. They added two more in the fifth inning.
The Otters (41-54) bats struggled to bring home potential runs. They stranded the bases loaded in the second inning and left two men in scoring position during the fifth.
Evansville scored in one inning tonight, waiting until the eighth to finally break through. Mason White led off with a solo home run. After a Pavin Parks single, Randy Bednar doubled him in and later scored to finalize the run totals.
Right-handed starter Zach Smith (7-8) took the loss for Evansville tonight. His pitch count worked high quickly, eventually allowing five runs on six hits in five innings with six strikeouts and two walks. Windy City’s Buddy Pindel (9-7) impressed, throwing seven scoreless innings of shutout baseball with nine strikeouts.
Out of the pen, Jon Beymer worked two scoreless innings seeing seven batters, while Tyler Ras pitched a one-two-three inning in the eighth.
With 11 hits to the ThunderBolts’ seven, the Otters were led by Bednar who had a 3-for-4 night at the plate with an RBI. Delvin Zinn and Gary Mattis also had multi-hit efforts.
In the final game of the 2024 season, the Otters look to snap their six-game slide and close out the year with a win tomorrow evening against Windy City. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. CT. Coverage is available on the Otters Digital Network and FloBaseball.
Nolan’s top-five finish leads USI men in opener
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—Sophomore Alex Nolan (Evansville, Indiana) opened the 2024 season with a fifth-place finish out of 54 competitors to lead University of Southern Indiana Men’s Cross Country at the Sam Bell Invitational Friday evening.
Nolan finished the six-kilometer race in 18 minutes, 44.3 seconds, just over a second back of fourth place.
As a team, the Screaming Eagles were fourth in the four-team field with 92 points. The University of Cincinnati won the event as the Bearcats sent the first four runners across the finish line for a team score of 17 points. Host Indiana University was second with 61 points, while Indiana State University had 73 points for a third-place finish.
Sophomores Tyler Zimmerman (Evansville, Indiana) and Landen Swiney (Du Quoin, Illinois) aided the Eagles with respective placements of 20th and 22nd. Senior Brady Terry (Philpot, Kentucky) was 23rd, though his finish didn’t factor into the team scoring due to technical issues, while sophomore Jackson Collman (Bethalto, Illinois) was 26th.
USI’s top seven was rounded out by sophomore Cole Hess (Cannelton, Indiana) and freshman Andrew Smith (Fishers, Indiana), where were 30th and 32nd, respectively. Sophomore Isaac Stanford (Flora, Illinois) was 33rd and saw his finish factor into the Eagles’ scoring despite being the eight USI runner to cross the finish line.
The Eagles return to action Saturday, September 14 when they compete at the UT Martin XC OVC Preview in Union, Tennessee. The women’s 6k will starts at 9 a.m., while the men’s 8k follows at 10 a.m.
Comastri finishes fourth to lead USI women at IU
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—Senior Audrey Comastri (Indianapolis, Indiana) raced to a fourth-place finish out of 52 competitors to lead University of Southern Indiana Women’s Cross Country at the 2024 season-opening Sam Bell Invitational.
Comastri finished the four-kilometer race with a time of 14 minutes, 23.6 seconds and an average mile pace of 5:47. She finished less than three seconds behind the third-place finisher and a little more than 20 seconds behind the University of Cincinnati’s Claire Curtsinger, who won the race in 14:02.7.
As a team, the Screaming Eagles were fourth of four teams with 86 points. Indiana State University was first with a team score of 33 points, while Cincinnati and host Indiana University were second and third, respectively, with 48 and 58 points.
Aiding the Eagles’ efforts was freshman Hadessah Austin (Attica, Indiana), who was 15th with a time of 14:45.4, while sophomore Zoe Seward (Rochesster, Indiana) was 16th with a time of 14:45.8.
Senior Katie Winkler (Santa Claus, Indiana) and freshman Addison Applegate (Corydon, Indiana) ran to respective finishes of 30th and 31st to round out USI’s top five scorers, while senior Emma Thompson (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) and sophomore Sara Livingston (Jasper, Indiana) wrapped up the Eagles’ top seven with respective finishes of 33rd and 34th.
USI returns to action Saturday, September 14 when it competes at the UT Martin XC OVC Preview in Union, Tennessee. The women’s 6k will starts at 9 a.m., while the men’s 8k follows at 10 a.m.
