University of Southern Indiana Volleyball was held to a .059 attacking percentage as the University of Illinois Springfield handed the Screaming Eagles a 25-16, 25-13, 25-15 Great Lakes Valley Conference setback Saturday afternoon.

The Prairie Stars (9-6, 3-3 GLVC) racked up blistering .383 attacking percentage, including clips of .438 and .483 in the first and third sets, respectively.

USI (3-12, 1-6 GLVC) fell into an early eight-point deficit in the opening set and could not recover as the Prairie Stars cruised to the nine-point win. Illinois Springfield used an 8-0 run in the second frame to turn a 9-8 lead into a commanding 17-8 cushion before opening the third set with a 7-1 outburst.

Sophomore outside hitter Mikaila Humphrey (Floyd Knobs, Indiana) led USI with seven kills, while junior setter Erika Peoples (Bloomington, Illinois) and senior libero Shannon Farrell (Munster, Indiana) had 24 assists and nine digs, respectively.

The Eagles return to action Friday at 7 p.m. when they host No. 25 Rockhurst University at the Physical Activities Center.

Short Box Score (Match)
Southern Indiana vs Illinois Springfield (Sep 30, 2017 at Springfield, IL)

Illinois Springfield def. Southern Indiana 25-16,25-13,25-15

Southern Indiana (3-12, 1-6 GLVC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Humphrey, Mikaila 7-0-0; Coleman, Elexis 6-0-3; Whitfield, Te’Ayla 6-0-0; Yochum, Alyssa 5-0-0; Jung, Amanda 2-0-0; Peoples, Erika 1-0-3; Limper, Haley 0-1-0; Totals 27-1-3.0. (Assists) – Peoples, Erika 24. (Dig leaders) – Farrell, Shannon 9; Humphrey, Mikaila 6

Illinois Springfield (9-6, 3-3 GLVC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Bauer, Taylor 10-0-0; Ripple, Erin 9-0-0; Hasler, Alyssa 9-0-4; Bush, Brianna 8-0-1; Borum, Jailyn 5-0-3; Splitt, Alli 3-0-1; Hendon, Kenzie 1-0-0; Hall, Lexi 0-1-0; Schutt, Courtney 0-2-0; Totals 45-3-5.0. (Assists) – Wentworth, Tiffany 18; Hall, Lexi 17. (Dig leaders) – Schutt, Courtney 12; Borum, Jailyn 9

Six out of eight University of Evansville women’s tennis players are headed to Sunday’s finals as the Purple Aces wrapped up the first day of the Evansville Metro Collegiate Invite on Saturday at Wesselman Park.

At flight one singles, Sunday will feature an all-Evansville final as Diana Tkachenko and Chieko Yamada will square off.  Tkachenko opened the day with a win over Asel Jumamukhambetova of UT Martin, 6-3, 2-6, 6-0.  In round two, she got past Jennifer Skonieczny of Bellarmine, 6-0, 6-4.

Yamada’s path to the finals started with a triumph over USI’s Lauren Hambrock, 6-4, 6-0.  In round two, she clinched her spot in the finals by defeating Nina Linke of Northern Alabama, 6-1, 7-6.

Daria Pentsova advanced to the finals in flight two.  After defeating Maggie Walroth of Bellarmine in the opening round, Pantsova got past Claudia Arroyo of UNI, 6-1, 6-3.

Another final will feature two Purple Aces as flight three will see Andrea Pascual-Larrinaga and Maria Kapelevich picked up two wins apiece.  Pascual-Larrinaga started the day with a win over Bellarmine’s Ava Ratcliff before her second-round match-up saw her beat Belmont’s Sarah Brackin, 6-3, 6-0.  Kapelevich got past USI’s Anna McDonald, 6-1, 6-1, to start the day before she beat Elina Geut of UT Martin, 6-1, 6-1.

Flight four singles saw Nicoli Pereira go 2-0 on her way to a finals match on Sunday.  She defeated Nikki Christiansen of Belmont, 6-2, 6-1, before moving past Mizuki Sakurai of UTM, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.  In flight five, Theodora Soldatou picked up a win over Natalyn Jones of Belmont before falling to UNA’s Nele Seitz in the second round.  Leah Helpingstine was defeated in her 6^th-flight match against BU’s Sarah Beth Crowe, 6-2, 6-0.

At #1 doubles, Tkachenko and Pentsova fell to UNA in the first round while Yamada and Soldatou got past USI before falling to UT Martin in their second match-up.

Pascual-Larrinaga and Pereira punched their ticket to the final round in flight two doubles as they took down Bellarmine and Belmont while the duo of Kapelevich and Helpingstine fell in their first doubles contest in the third flight.

Sunday’s final day is set for another 9 a.m. start at Wesselman Park.  Admission is free.

University of Southern women’s cross country placed second of nine Division II teams in the silver race at the Greater Louisville Classic Saturday afternoon in Louisville, Kentucky.

With the Screaming Eagles preparing for the Regional Crossover meet in Romeoville, Illinois, next week, USI held out many of its top runners Saturday.

Redshirt sophomore Micalah Booher (Pendleton, Indiana) paced the Eagles with a third place finish with a time of 19 minutes, 39.78 seconds. Sophomore Ellie Tjelmeland (Springfield, Illinois) finished a tenth of a second behind Booher in fourth.

Sophomore Ashley Lawhorn (Frankfort, Kentucky) finished 11^th for the Eagles, with junior Sarah Hamilton(Chandler, Indiana) 13^th. Four Eagles finished 16^th-19^th to have eight runners in the top 19.

The Eagles return to the course next Saturday when they travel to Romeoville, Illinois, for the Midwest Region Crossover hosted by Lewis University.

EPD REPORT

UE drops 5-set match on Friday

 Sophomore Rachel Tam had a career-high 27 kills as the University of Evansville volleyball team fell by a 3-2 final on Friday evening in Carbondale.

Tam recorded her top college total in 79 attempts, which was also the most in her time as a Purple Ace (6-9, 0-3 MVC).  Cathy Schreiber had another great night, posting 17 kills while hitting .325.  Allana McInnis finished with 47 assists and Cassie Brooks was great defensively, notching 28 digs.

Southern Illinois (4-11, 3-1 MVC) was led by Nellie Fredriksson, who had 14 kills.  Ashley Edelen led everyone with 29 digs.

Evansville saw things go its way early on, posting victories in the opening two sets.  Game one saw UE go up by a 10-8 score early on as Tam had one of her 27 kills.  Southern Illinois took its turn, going up by two points on three occasions.  The latest was at 21-19.  Tam made sure that lead did not stand.  Back-to-back service aces were part of a 3-0 run that gave the Aces the lead.  From there, they were able to hang on for a 26-24 win.

Things were a little easier for the Aces in set two.  After going up 4-1 on three Tam kills and a Schreiber service ace, UE extended its advantage to 12-8.  The Salukis close the gap to just one at 21-20 on an Andrea Estrada kill, but it was Tam coming through in the clutch once again.  Two more kills marked the final two tallies of the set, giving UE a 25-21 win and a 2-0 match lead.

With their backs against the wall, SIU roared its way to a 25-10 win in the third frame.  They hit .538 in the set.  Game four also went SIU’s way.  With the score knotted at 21-21, Southern Illinois received a pair of Patience Brown kills to score the final four tallies en route to a 25-21 win, forcing a fifth set

The Salukis were in good shape to start, posting three of the first four points.  Evansville refused to give up, forcing an SIU error to tie it up at 8-8.  SIU was on the verge of clinching the match, taking a 14-11 lead, but the Aces continued to show their resilience.  Behind a pair of Schreiber kills, UE tied it up at 14-14.  Momentum went back to SIU as a pair of UE service errors helped them clinch the victory with a 17-15 win in the fifth set.

Tomorrow night, UE will look to pick up a road win at Missouri State.  The Aces and Bears square off at 7 p.m. in Springfield, Mo.