Singles also do well on first day of tournament

 All three doubles teams picked up victories as the University of Evansville women’s tennis squad completed the first day of the Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championships on Saturday at Wesselman Park.

Top doubles featured Diana Tkachenko and Nicoli Pereira defeating Drake’s Joely Lomas and Summer Brills by a final of 8-6.  They advance to take on Veronika Golanova and Marcia Tere-Apisah of Illinois State on Sunday.  At #2 doubles, the duo of Chieko Yamada and Theodora Soldatou defeated Bradley’s Aimee Manfredo and Ariel Dechter, 8-7 (6).  They square off against Drake in the first doubles match of the day.

Capping off the perfect doubles day for UE were Daria Pentsova and Andjela Brguljan, who defeated Missouri State’s Alexia Meyer and Abbey Belote by a score of 8-5 in the third flight.  They will take on Southern Illinois tomorrow.

Tkachenko capped off the perfect day at #2 singles, defeating DU’s Summer Brills, 6-1, 6-3.  She will face Ting-Ya Hsu from Wichita State with a chance to advance to Monday’s championship match.  Also earning a win was Soldatou, who beat Sydney Wolfe of UNI, 6-1, 7-6 (4).  They faced each other in the opening round of fifth flight singles.  Soldatou will face Malini Wijesinghe from Bradley on Sunday.

Pereira was the third UE player to win her opening singles tilt.  In the sixth flight, she beat Aimee Manfredo of Bradley, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.  She faces the Bears’ Alexia Meyer tomorrow with the winner moving onto the championship.

Andrea Pascual-Larrinaga and Chieko Yamada each won matches in their respective back draw on Saturday.  Pascual-Larrinaga lost her opening match before beating UNI’s Gisela Kemper, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6).  She moved onto the fifth place match of flight four.  After falling to SIU, Yamada rebounded with a win over UNI’s Jieke Stroobant, 4-6, 6-0, 10-6.  She played at the top flight.

Action cranks right back up on Sunday beginning at 9 a.m. at Wesselman Park.  Admission is free.

Tournament to be played on Monday and Tuesday

A trip to Morganton, N.C. awaits the University of Evansville golf team as they will play in the Donald Ross Intercollegiate on Monday and Tuesday.

Mimosa Hills Country Club will be the host course for the event, which features a total of 54 holes.  The opening two rounds are played Monday before the final 18 on Tuesday.  Schools playing include: Appalachian State, Bethune-Cookman, Bucknell, Greensboro College, High Point, North Carolina Central, Pfeiffer, Stetson, Towson, Evansville and Wingate.

Tyler Gray shot a 1-under 69 on Tuesday to earn the win at the Butler Fall Invitational as the University of Evansville men’s golf team took second place in the event at  Highland Country Club.

Gray’s round of a 1-under 69 was his lowest round of the event and gave him a 210 over the course of the tournament.  He defeated UIndy’s Evan Stoker by one stroke.  Gray opened the event with rounds of 71 and 70 on Monday.

All five Purple Aces finished in the top 21 as the team took second place on the team side.  Evansville posted an 855 over the three rounds while the University of Indianapolis notched an 854.  Both teams had strong efforts in the final rounds as Indianapolis notched a 284 with Evansville carding a 287.  Those were the lowest team rounds of the day.

Second for UE was Wil Pahud.  His 72 on Tuesday gave him a 213 for the event, tying him for sixth place.  Sophomore Zac Turi had another solid round of play.  After shooting a career-low 69 in the opening round, Turi recorded a 74 to finish with a 218.  He tied for 13th.

One shot behind Turi was Noah Reese.  A 75 in the final round saw Reese post a 219 for the tournament, tying for 16th.  Rounding out the team was Matthew Ladd, who had his best round of the weekend.  He shot a 72 to tie for 21st place with a 222.

The University of Southern Indiana women’s soccer team lost a heartbreaker in the finals seconds of the double-overtime to William Jewell College, 1-0, Friday evening at Strassweg Field. USI saw its record fall to 7-5-0 overall and 4-5-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, while William Jewell goes to 2-7-2, 2-6-1 GLVC.

The Screaming Eagles and the Cardinals were scoreless through the first half with USI posting the greater number of offensive chances. USI led William Jewell, 7-3, during the first half in shots, while hitting cross bar twice and having a goal called back due to an offside call.

In the second half, William Jewell was able to put pressure on USI with aid of the wind. Both squad had six shots in the second stanza, but were unable to score, sending the match to overtime.

In the overtimes, USI had three shots at the William Jewell goal, but it was the Cardinals that ended the game at 109:52. WJC defender Elizabeth McQueen scored game winner from 15 yards out to end the USI winning streak.

Eagles’ sophomore goalkeeper Emily Hopkins (Greenfield, Indiana) took the loss in goal for the USI, despite tying a career-high with 10 saves. The goal also broke Hopkins’ streak of 292 minutes without giving up a goal.

USI concludes the short two-match homestand Sunday at noon when it hosts Rockhurst University. The Hawks sent their record to 9-1-2 overall and 6-1-2 in the GLVC after tying Bellarmine University, 1-1, in double overtime tonight in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Eagles have a lot of ground to make up in the all-time series with the Hawks, trailing 10-1-1. Rockhurst won last year’s meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, 3-2, in overtime and are 3-0-1 in the last four match-ups with USI.

Following Sunday’s match with Rockhurst, the Eagles hit the road for three-straight matches. USI will travel to Drury University October 14; Missouri University of Science & Technology October 16; and McKendree University October 21 on the longest road trip of the year.

Aces to face Indiana State on Saturday

Mildrelis Rodriguez and Rachel Tam recorded eight kills apiece as the University of Evansville volleyball team dropped a 3-0 match to Illinois State on Friday evening at the Carson Center.

Tam notched eight kills in 17 attempts and hit .294 to lead the Purple Aces (4-15, 0-6 MVC) while Rodriguez matched her tally with 8.  Olivia Goldstein had 10 digs while Erlicia Griffith chipped in four block assists.  Jaelyn Keene led the Redbirds (12-6, 5-1 MVC) with 13 kills while Ali Line finished the night with 10.

Illinois State opened the night with a 25-12 win.  They jumped out to a 6-2 lead and pushed that out to 22-9 as Jaelyn Keene had five kills in the frame.  Erlicia Griffith notched a pair of block assists as UE cut the gap to ten, but ISU was able to come back for the win.

Evansville notched the first point of the second game, but Illinois State scored six of the next seven to take a 6-2 advantage.  The Aces fought back as a Rachel Tam kill helped the Aces get back within three at 10-7.  Five in a row by ISU made the difference as they went up 15-7.  The Aces continued to fight back as Tam helped the Aces get back within six before the Redbirds finished with the 25-18 victory.  Tam notched six kills in the set.

After ISU notched the opening three tallies of the third frame, the Aces got on the board and battled back to get within two at 5-3.  From there, Illinois State took control, going up 15-6.  Rodriguez notched a pair of kills to end the rally, but ISU rolled to a 25-13 win to clinch the match.

Tomorrow, the Aces welcome Indiana State to the Carson Center for a 7 p.m. match.