Event took place on Thursday night

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A crowd in excess of 1,000 helped the University of Evansville men’s and women’s basketball teams kick off the 2016-17 season with Hoopfest on Thursday night at the Ford Center.

A full night of action took place including a 3-point contest, shooting challenge, slam dunk exhibition and scrimmages by each squad.

Payton Langston and Ryan Taylor got the night started with a victory in the 3-point contest. In the half court shooting challenge, it was Willie Wiley and Sasha Robinson whose team hit a long shot in just 56 seconds.

A close contest ensued in the women’s scrimmage as the Gray team beat the Purple squad by a 13-12 margin. Peyton Langston led the gray with four points while Brooke Dossett had three.
Camary Williams was the leading scorer in the contest, posting seven points for the purple while Kaylan Coffman had four.

On the men’s side, the Purple took down the Orange by a score of 20-10. Sergej Vucetic was the top performer for the purple, scoring six points. Jaylon Brown and Ryan Taylor each hit a triple and finished with five points apiece. Christian Benzon had four points for the orange.

Following the festivities, fans were able to get autographs from both teams on their newly-released schedule posters.

Evansville’s women begin their season at home against Cleveland State on November 12 while the men open up on Nov. 11 at Louisville.

The University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team is predicted to finish fifth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s East Division in 2016-17 by the conference head coaches. USI was 19-11 overall and a 10-8 in the GLVC a year ago, earning a sixth-straight trip to the conference’s post-season tournament.

In the preseason poll, the Screaming Eagles collected 76 points and one first place vote in the East Division that also features Bellarmine University, the University of Indianapolis, the University of Illinois Springfield, Lewis University, McKendree University, Saint Joseph’s College, and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

Bellarmine, the defending East Division title holder, was picked first in the East with 114 points and nine first place votes. The University of Wisconsin-Parkside was selected second with 90 points and two first place votes, while Lewis University and the University of Indianapolis tied for third with 88 points. Uindy and Lewis had three first place votes and one first place vote, respectively.

Illinois Springfield (41 points), McKendree (35 points) and Saint Joseph’s (33 points) were in the bottom three at sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

Quincy University is predicted to win the West Division, receiving 113 points and nine first place votes. Drury University, the defending West Division champion, was second with 109 points and six first place votes, while Truman State University was third with 94 points and one first place vote.

Rockhurst University rounded out the top half of the West Division with 70 points for fourth place. The bottom half of the West Division includes the University of Missouri-St. Louis (63) points), Maryville University (54 points), William Jewell College (35 points), and Missouri University of Science & Technology (30 points).

The Eagles start the 2016-17 campaign with an exhibition game November 1 at Purdue University in West Lafayette. The USI regular season tips off November 12-13 at the GLVC/GLIAC at the University of Indianapolis. The Eagles also are hosting the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic November 18-19 at the Ford Center for their first games in Evansville this year.

The complete 2016-17 GLVC Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll follows:

2016-17 Men’s Basketball East Division Preseason Poll
1. Bellarmine                       114 (9)
2. UW-Parkside                     90 (2)
3. Indianapolis                       88 (3)
Lewis                                88(1)
5. Southern Indiana            76 (1)
6. McKendree                       46
7. Illinois Springfield              34
8. Saint Joseph’s                   32

2016-17 Men’s Basketball West Division Preseason Poll
1. Quincy                            113 (9)
2. Drury                              109 (6)
3. Truman State                     94 (1)
4. Rockhurst                          70
5 . Missouri-St. Louis             63
6. Maryville                             54
7. William Jewell                    35
8. Missouri S&T                     30

Aces to play on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.

 It is back to the Carson Center for the University of Evansville volleyball team as they return home following a 3-week road trip that wrapped up last weekend with road contests at UNI and Drake.  Evansville faces Bradley on Friday before welcoming Loyola to the Carson Center on Saturday.  Both matches begin at 7 p.m. and will be featured on The Valley on ESPN3.

Saturday’s match against the Bulldogs was an offensive explosion for Mildrelis Rodriguez and Rocio Fortuny as Rodriguez set her career mark with 21 kills while Fortuny tied her top effort at UE with 17.  Rachel Tam also checked in with her high of five block assists while Joselyn Coronel assisted on a career-high 32 shots.

Rodriguez set her career-high with 21 kills in 52 attempts last Saturday.  She hit a solid .308 and also posted 12 digs.  She has notched at least eight kills in seven of the last eight matches and continues to pace the squad with 2.91 per set.  The sophomore comes into this weekend with an even 250 kills on the season.  The Purple Aces have depended on her efforts to keep the offense rolling as she has notched at least 24 attempts in each MVC match in 2016.

Fortuny had her shot going against Drake, notching 17 kills last time out.  It tied her career-high, which came earlier this year in the home meeting against the Bulldogs.  Fortuny ranks second on the team behind fellow sophomore Mildrelis Rodriguez with 2.11 kills per set.  She has also done well on the defensive side with 0.39 blocks per set.

A week after setting her collegiate mark with four kills at Southern Illinois, Joselyn Coronel set a career-high in assists with 32 versus the Bulldogs.  It marked the third time this season she has posted at least 20 helpers.  Splitting time at the position with Jelena Merseli, Coronel has averaged 2.96 assists per game.

Bradley will mark the first match of the weekend as the Aces and Braves play at 7 p.m. on Friday.  The Braves come to the Carson Center with a 7-15 overall mark and are 2-9 in MVC play.  Erica Haslag has had a strong sophomore season for the Braves and ranks fourth in the league with 3.44 kills per set.  Defensively, Abby Ihrke ranks fifth in the Valley with 4.07 digs

On Saturday, UE will take on Loyola.  The Ramblers enter the weekend with a 10-14 mark and are 5-6 in the conference.  They are in sixth place in the league standings as we round the homestretch.  Senior Morgan Reardon is third in the MVC with 3.47 kills per game while Delilah Wolf has registered 9.86 assists in her freshman season and stands third in the conference in tha

The University of Southern Indiana men’s soccer team will host a Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament first round match for the first time since 2003 when it takes on the University of Missouri-St. Louis at noon Sunday at Strassweg Field. USI (12-2-3, 10-2-3 GLVC) is the third seed in the tournament, while UMSL (10-6-1, 9-5-1 GLVC) is the sixth seed.

Following the first round matches at campus sites, the GLVC Tournament will move to Carroll Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana for the semifinal matches November 4 and the championship match November 6. The GLVC is featuring the semifinals and the championship match on a neutral field for the first time in the history of GLVC men’s soccer.

Live coverage of USI’s run through the post-season, including live statistics and video, can be found on GoUSIEagles.com.

Week 10 Eagle Notes: 

USI is 4^th in region; receives votes nationally: The Eagles dropped two spots to fourth in the second NCAA Division II Midwest Region poll and closed in on reentering the NSCAA NCAA II Top 25 by receiving votes.

Eagles clinches home field in dramatic fashion: USI clinched its first post-season home game since 2003 in dramatic fashion, rallying to defeat Bellarmine University with two goals in the final 10 minutes to win, 2-1.

Home winning streak in the GLVC Tournament: The Eagles have a won their last two GLVC Tournament games at the Strassweg Field, defeating Quincy University in 2002 and Bellarmine University in 2003.

GLVC leader in championships: USI has 10 GLVC men’s soccer titles since the conference was created in 1979, the most by any program in the league. The Eagles won the conference championships in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1991.

Between the posts: Junior goalkeeper Adam Zehme (Orland Park, Illinois) leads the Eagles between the posts with a 12-2-3 mark and a 0.90 goals against average. Zehme has a career-best 12 wins, 63 saves, and six shutouts this fall.

Scoring leaders: USI freshman midfielder Sean Rickey (Columbia, Illinois) is USI’s current scoring leader with 19 points on six goals and a team-high seven assists. The Eagles will be without their one-two punch of freshman forward Eric Ramirez (Vincennes, Indiana) and junior midfielder Kyle Richardville (Vincennes, Indiana), who will miss the GLVC Tournament with injuries. Ramirez and Richardville had recorded 21 points (10 goals, one assist) and 19 points (seven goals, five assists), respectively, before suffering the injuries.

Ramirez having best freshman year:  Despite going down with a hamstring injury and missing the last match, freshman forward Eric Ramirez has had the best freshman season ever for a USI player, posting a team-high 21 points on 10 goals and one assist. Ramirez broke the freshman record of nine set by Eric Schoenstein in 1988.

USI vs. UMSL: The Eagles trail the Tritons in the all-time series, 21-5-2, after dropping a 2-1 decision to start the 2016 GLVC slate. The September match was not played at on the natural grass of Strassweg Field due to rain, but was played on the artificial turf of Central Stadium in Evansville.