Aces 3-0 for first time since 2011

MACOMB, Ill. – For the first time since the 2011 season, the University of Evansville volleyball team has started the season with a 3-0 record after the Purple Aces defeated Western Illinois, 3-2, to win the Leatherneck Invitational.

Evansville is 3-0 with wins over Western Illinois, Manhattan and Chicago State.  Cathy Schreiber was named the tournament MVP while Cassie Brooks and Rocio Fortuny earned spots on the All-Tournament Team.

“I am very proud of this team,” UE head coach Manolo Concepcion said.  “Everyone was involved and fully invested in every single point throughout the weekend.  All of them contributed, compensating one for the other when needed.”

In the nightcap, the Purple Aces defeated the host Leathernecks in a 5-set thriller.  Rachel Tam notched 15 kills while Cathy Schreiber had 13 and Rocio Fortuny totaled 11.  Allana McInnis and Taylor Jones recorded 24 and 20 assists, respectively while Cassie Brooks and Gabriela Dos Santos had things covered defensively.  Brooks had 27 digs while Dos Santos notched 21.

Emma Norris led the way for WIU with 19 kills while Jaime Johnson led everyone with 36 assists.

The Leathernecks took a 10-7 lead in game one before the Aces used a 9-3 run to go up 15-13.  Western got within a tally at 20-19 before the Aces finished it off with five in a row, three being kills.  McInnis notched a service ace to finish off the set.  Following a 25-14 Leatherneck win in the second game, UE regained the edge in the third.  Brooks did the serving as UE jumped out to a 7-0 lead with Tam posting two kills in the run.  UE never let up, taking a 25-17 victory.

WIU forced a fifth and deciding set as they finished the fourth frame on a 7-4 run to win by a 25-22 final.  Taylor Jones started it off with strong serving to give the Aces a 4-0 lead.  Western Illinois fought back to make it a 4-4 score before taking their first lead at 11-10.  That would be their only lead.  With the score tied at 13-13, the Aces forced two WIU errors to clinch the match with a 15-13 win.

“Ball control and consistent game management from both setters were the key of the weekend,” Concepcion explained.  “Our middles stepping up in the net in pressure moments of the game was also important.”

Earlier in the day, Rachel Tam posted 16 kills as UE swept Manhattan, 3-0, in the second game of the tournament.

Tam fell just three kills short of her career-best 19 kills from last season.  She also finished with 13 digs.  Cathy Schreiber, Gabriela Dos Santos and Rocio Fortuny recorded eight kills apiece.  Allana McInnis led all players with 37 assists and Cassie Brooks was solid on defense, finishing with 18 kills.

UE opened the game with an impressive 25-7 performance in the first set before wrapping up the match with finals of 25-17 and 25-23 in the third.  Next weekend, the Aces are in Cape Girardeau, Mo. for three matches on the campus of Southeast Missouri State.

UE looks for tournament win tonight versus WIU 

Rachel Tam posted 16 kills as the University of Evansville volleyball team swept Manhattan, 3-0, in the second game of the Leatherneck Invitational on Saturday morning.

Tam fell just three kills short of her career-best 19 kills from last season.  She also finished with 13 digs.  Cathy Schreiber, Gabriela Dos Santos and Rocio Fortuny recorded eight kills apiece.  Allana McInnis led all players with 37 assists and Cassie Brooks was solid on defense, finishing with 18 kills.

UE opened the game with an impressive 25-7 performance in the first set before wrapping up the match with finals of 25-17 and 25-23 in the third.

Full coverage and quotes coming after tonight’s match against Western Illinois as the Purple Aces look to take the tournament championship.

In its regular season opener, the University of Evansville men’s soccer team scored six first half goals in route to a 9-0 victory over Anderson University (Ind.) on Friday evening at Arad McCutchan Stadium.

The Purple Aces opened the match with an early goal in the 11th minute as senior Ian McGrath scored off an assist by sophomore Simon Waever. 10 minutes later, UE added another goal as junior Caleb Williams received a pass from senior Arlick Ntabana and provided the Aces with a 2-0 advantage.

In the final eight minutes of the opening half,  the Aces exploded for four goals. Freshman Adam Snow started the run with his first collegiate goal in the 38th minute, followed by a goal by junior Zac Blaydes in the 42nd minute.

Snow continued his strong start to his collegiate career with another goal just 22 seconds after Blaydes’ goal that gave the Aces a 5-0 lead. The hat trick is the first for the Aces since Mike Luttrull scored three times in the opening half against Alabama A&M on September 10, 2010.

With just 10 seconds left in the first half, Snow received a cross from fellow freshman Sam Bonano and headed it into the back of the net to complete his first half hat trick and put UE up 6-0 at the halftime break.

In the second half, Bonano took control, scoring his first collegiate goal and dishing out three more assists as the Aces scored three more times to capture a 9-0 victory.

Snow led the way with his hat trick, while Bonano tallied six points on a goal and four assists. McGrath helped power the Aces in the first half with a goal and two assists, playing just 45 minutes in the win. Senior goalkeeper Matthew Keller kept a clean sheet for the second-straight match as he kept the Ravens off the scoreboard in 55 minutes between the posts.

UE out-shot the Ravens, 46-1,  with 29 of the Aces shots on-goal.

“We worked on some things from the IUPUI game. I didn’t think we were taking enough space, finding balls in the midfield, and playing through the lines and we were able to do that early this evening and keep the ball moving,” said UE men’s soccer head coach Marshall Ray. “Most importantly we kept everyone healthy and got guys a lot of minutes tonight which was good for us.”

The nine goals are the most by the Aces since UE scored a 9-0 victory over Alabama A&M on September 10, 2010.

The Aces travel east for their first road match of the season on Sunday for a matchup with Marshall at 3 p.m. in Huntington, West Virginia.

The Evansville Otters took the opening game of the series behind powerful pitching and dominant offense 9-3 over the Southern Illinois Miners.

Evansville (49-39) put up 16 hits in the effort including three hits each from Ryan Long and Chris Riopedre.

Southern Illinois (35-53) struggled on the mound walking eight Otters batters and striking out only seven.

Evansville jumped out to an early lead to open up the game in the first inning.

Jeff Gardner hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Ryan Long. Brandon Soat drew a bases loaded walk later in the inning to bring in Josh Allen to make it 2-0.

In the bottom of the frame, Southern Illinois added their own run on a sacrifice fly from Ryan Lashley to cut the lead to 2-1.

The scoring fell silent until the fifth inning when the Otters came alive again.

Riopedre hit a two-RBI single to score John Schultz and Soat. Josh Allen then plated Zach Welz on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-1.

In the sixth inning, Welz hit an RBI single to score Jeff Gardner. In the seventh inning, Long hit an RBI single to score Riopedre making it 7-1.

The Miners drew closer in the bottom of the eighth inning on a two-run home run from Nolan Earley making it 7-3.

The Otters got the runs back in the ninth on a two-RBI double from Dane Phillips, his 30^th of the season to make it 9-3.

Felix Baez impressed in his start. He walked just two and gave up only four hits in seven innings. Baez only surrendered one run and also struck out five.

Matt Parish recorded the loss for the Miners.

Riopedre also added on three steals in the contest. Riopedre now has 19 stolen bases for the season to lead the team.

The series resumes tomorrow at 6:05 p.m. at Rent One Park.

Fans can listen on 91.5 WUEV with Lucas Corley (play-by-play) and Zane Clodfelter (color commentary) on the call.

Tickets for August home games are still available by going to evansvilleotters.com or calling 812-435-8686.