Mildrelis Rodriguez and Rachel Tam recorded 15 kills apiece to lead the University of Evansville volleyball team to a 3-0 win at Southern Illinois on Saturday.

As a team, the Purple Aces (9-22, 3-12 MVC) hit .282 with Kerra Cornist leading the way, hitting .467 on her way to eight kills.  Rodriguez hit an accurate .379 with 15 kills while Tam finished at .205.  Alondra Vazquez chipped in nine kills.  Allana McInnis had 44 assists on the night while tying for the game-high with 10 digs.  Vazquez also finished with 10.

Southern Illinois (5-22, 1-13 MVC) was led by Lindsey Paulsen’s six kills.

A service ace by Rachel Tam saw the Aces jump out to a 6-2 lead.  The Aces continued to hold that advantage until the Salukis closed within one at 12-11. Back-to-back kills from Mildrelis Rodriguez and Rocio Fortuny set UE back on track as they scored three in a row to go up 15-11.  SIU got within a tally once again, but the Aces finished strong as another Tam ace gave UE a 25-16 win.

Fortuny helped her team get off to another 6-2 start in the second set with her first ace of the evening.  Evansville’s lead hovered around 3-4 points until late in the set when consecutive aces from Alondra Vazquez extended the UE lead to 20-12.  From there, the Aces won by a 25-18 final.

Evansville put the finishing touches on the night with a 25-12 win in the third frame.  The Salukis jumped out to a 5-4 lead, but the Aces came back with four in a row to take the lead for good.  Rodriguez notched two kills in the run.  After SIU got within two at 9-7, the Aces reeled off eight in a row as Allana McInnis did the serving.  From there, it was all UE as they were able to complete the sweep.

Indiana State is next up for the Aces as they travel to Terre Haute on Friday for a 5 p.m. CT contest.

The 2018 season came to close for the University of Southern Indiana volleyball team Saturday afternoon following a three-set loss in Great Lakes Valley Conference play to McKendree University (27-25, 25-20, 25-19) at the Physical Activities Center.

Senior setter Erika Peoples (Bloomington, Illinois) led the way for the Screaming Eagles (10-19, 2-16 GLVC) with a double-double of 20 assists and 10 digs, while fellow senior libero Haley Limper (Springfield, Illinois) posted a match-high 19 digs.

The Bearcats (16-14, 10-8 GLVC) were led by Megan Marks with 17 kills, while Morgan Melchert posted a double-double with 36 assists and 10 digs.

Peoples, Limper, and graduating-junior middle hitter Shawntel James (Elkhart, Indiana) were recognized prior to the match in Senior Day celebration.

McKendree 27, USI 25

• The Eagles put together a 9-3 run, including three straight points at match point, but gave away the first set on a pair of attack errors after a 25-25 draw
• Junior outside hitter Lindsey Stose (Elkhart, Indiana) continued her strong performance on the attack from Friday night, led USI with four kills in the opening frame
• Peoples tallied seven of USI’s 13 assists, while four others combined for the other six
• Four Eagles registered kills as USI climbed back to a tie in the 9-3 run: Stose, junior middle blocker Amanda Jung (Belleville, Illinois), and sophomores outside hitter Alyssa Yochum (Columbia, Illinois) and setter Casey Cepicky (St. Louis, Missouri)
• There were eight tied scores in the opening set, six coming before the second, and final, lead change at 10-9 in favor of the Bearcats

McKendree 25, USI 20

• USI opened the second set with 10 kills in its first 11 points, but surrendered an 8-3 stretch to McKendree following a 17-17 tie
• Stose continued her offensive performance with four more kills, this time paired with a .500 hitting percentage…Yochum also added four kills, three of which coming on the 9th, 10th and 11th points for the Eagles
• Peoples reached her double-double through two sets, nearly posting a double-double in the second set alone with nine assists and seven digs…Limper also added seven digs, which tied Peoples for the highest total in the set

McKendree 25, USI 19

• The Bearcats opened the match-clinching set with a 6-1 lead, survived a 5-0 USI run to a 9-9 draw, and closed on three straight points via two kills and a block
• Yochum and junior right side hitter Elexis Coleman (Joliet, Illinois) each tallied three kills to lead the Eagles…Yochum finished one kill shy of a double-double with 10 digs
• Limper tallied six digs, again tying the most in the set, and added her 26th service ace of the season

Notes

• Haley Limper’s 19 digs was her second-highest total in a GLVC match this season (23; v. Lewis University on Oct. 5), and her most since posting 22 at the Midwest Region Crossover against Kentucky Wesleyan College on Oct. 13
• Erika Peoples notched her sixth double-double of the season

Curtain Call

USI Volleyball concluded the 2018 campaign on Saturday afternoon.

UE set for regular season

 Contributions came from everywhere as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team defeated New Mexico Highlands by a final of 83-61 in exhibition play on Saturday afternoon.

Four players finished in double figures for the Aces, who are under the direction of new head coach Walter McCarty.  Leading the way was senior Dainius Chatkevicius, who posted 17 points and 8 rebounds, both team highs.  K.J. Riley drained seven free throws on his way to a 16-point outing.  Marty Hill and John Hall recorded 12 points apiece.

Today’s game was a great boost for Chatkevicius, whose career-high in scoring came last season at Duke when he finished with 12 points.

“Coach said to play with confidence and work hard, I feel like that made a difference,” Chatkevicius exclaimed.

New Mexico Highlands saw Gerad Davis lead all players with 20 points while Nnamdi Okoro registered 11 caroms, the top tally in the contest.

“It was a fun game and atmosphere, I am so happy the fans came out and supported us,” McCarty said.  “We just have to keep getting better. Our guys were a little anxious to begin the game, but they settled down after a few minutes and played well.”

Evansville took its first lead of the game as an and-one by K.J. Riley gave UE a 3-2 advantage.  New Mexico Highlands responded with a 13-6 stretch that saw them open up a 15-9 lead at the 12:26 mark.

That is when UE put it into high gear, finishing the half on a 27-12 run to take a 36-27 lead into the break.  A Marty Hill layup put the Aces back in front by a 16-15 score before Shea Feehan wrapped up a 10-0 Evansville run with a triple.  Chatkevicius got in on the outside shooting, draining one from downtown to push the lead to 22-15.

Hill moved into double figures in the final minute giving Evansville a 36-26 lead before a free throw by the Cowboys cut their deficit to nine at the half.

The opening moments of the second half saw the Aces take full control.  A 15-1 run over the first four minutes of the period gave UE a 51-28 advantage.  John Hall spearheaded the run, scoring seven of those points before Evan Kuhlman capped it off with his first trey of the night.

UE’s lead reached as many as 26 points – 73-47 – with 5:21 remaining before the Cowboys closed the gap to 22 in the end, making it a final of 83-61.

All ten players for Evansville found their way into the scorebook.  Graduate transfer Shea Feehan commented on the new philosophy of the team.

“We will not depend on one guy to do all of the scoring, Feehan explained.  “We have a lot of guys who can make plays and it showed today.”

An accurate outing from the floor saw the Aces shoot 50.9% while holding New Mexico Highlands to 34.3%.  UE also forced 19 turnovers.  McCarty commended his squad for their effort on the defensive side.

“Our guys did a really good job of executing our defensive schemes and finishing plays with rebounds,” he said.  “Dainius was huge for us, the more he plays and the more he gets in shape, the larger of a factor he will be for us.”

UE opens the regular season on Thursday at the University of Illinois in a 7 p.m. matchup.