Aces drop hard-fought match

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Montana Schafer had the best outing of her career, posting 11 kills, but Drake was able to hang on in the end, earning a 3-2 win over the University of Evansville volleyball team at the Carson Center on Friday evening.

Schafer was one of four Purple Aces (4-10, 0-1 MVC) in double figures in kills.  Rocio Fortuny set her career mark with 17 while Mildrelis Rodriguez finished with 16.  Rachel Tam had a solid night, notching 13 kills.  On the defensive side, the Aces were stellar as five finished in double digits in digs.  Olivia Goldstein set her career mark for the second weekend in a row, posting 22.  Rodriguez notching 19, Tam had 18, Fortuny checked in with 13 and Jelena Merseli notched 10.  Merseli also tied her career high with 48 assists.

Pacing Drake (10-5, 1-0 MVC) was Kyla Inderski, who had 19 kills.  Grace Schofield finished the night with 13.

Evansville was on fire to start the night, taking a 4-0 lead in the first set.  Drake got within one at 7-6, but UE held strong, extending its advantage to 17-13.  Rachel Tam had a service ace in the run.  The Bulldogs kept fighting and took their first lead of the night at 18-17 on a Grace Schofield kill, but the Aces held strong, going back up 20-19 before a Fortuny kill gave them a 24-22 lead.  Just when it seemed like the Aces were on the verge of a win, Drake had one more rally left as a kill from Kyla Inderski sent DU on a set-ending 4-0 run and a 26-24 triumph.

The Aces refused to let the loss in the opening frame phase them, showing great maturity in rally for a 25-19 win.  Drake had the upper hand early on, taking a 9-5 advantage, but Evansville kept it close.  Trailing 17-15, UE turned it on.  Another Tam kill began a stretch that saw UE outscore Drake by a 10-2 stretch to earn the win.  Tam was the star the second game, notching five kills while hitting .444.

Another close battle ensued in the third game.  The Aces seemed to be in good shape as a Fortuny kill gave them a 16-13 lead, but Drake battled back.  An 11-3 run saw the Bulldogs looking good, up 24-19, and having a chance to take a 2-1 lead.  Rachel Tam and the Aces had other ideas.  Tam did the serving as UE finished the set on an unbelievable 7-0 run to grab a 2-1 lead of its own.  Fortuny had two kills in the run and Cathy Schreiber added another as the Aces made the improbable comeback.

Drake put its best foot forward in the fourth game, earning a 25-16 win to force a deciding 5^th set.  Evansville jumped out to a 3-1 lead and extended it to 8-5 before Drake scored four in a row to go up 9-8.  Fortuny put UE back on top, recording her 17^th kill of the night to make it an 11-10 game.  The Bulldogs countered with a run of their own, hanging on for the 15-13 win to clinch the match.

Tomorrow night, the Aces are right back in action against UNI.  Game time is 7 p.m. inside the Carson Center.

On a night in which junior libero Shannon Farrell (Munster, Indiana) became the 11^th player in program history to reach the 1,000-career dig plateau, University of Southern Indiana Volleyball could not rally from a two-set deficit as it fell to host Truman State University 25-22, 25-13, 18-25, 25-18, in a Great Lakes Valley Conference bout Friday night.

After seeing an early five-point lead evaporate in the first set and suffering through a dismal showing in the second frame, the Screaming Eagles bounced back with a big effort in the third stanza to cut their match deficit in half.

USI (6-6, 1-2 GLVC), which hit .412 in the third frame, raced out to an early five-point lead and never let the Bulldogs back into the set.

Truman (3-9, 2-1 GLVC), however, rallied from an early 3-0 deficit in the fourth frame to build a 12-9 advantage. The Bulldogs extended their lead to 15-10 moments later and never looked back as USI could get no closer to than three points throughout the remainder of the set.

Farrell, who now has 1,016 career digs to her name, finished the night with 22 digs, including eight in the opening set and nine in the fourth. Sophomore defensive specialist Haley Limper (Springfield, Illinois) and junior outside hitter Shelbi Morris (Brazil, Indiana) each had 14 digs, while sophomore setter Erika Peoples (Bloomington, Illinois) had a double-double with 37 assists and 11 digs.

Junior middle hitter Te’Ayla Whitfield (Fort Wayne, Indiana) had 11 kills and a .625 attacking percentage to pace the Eagles, offensively. Morris was one of four Eagles to finish with eight kills on the night.

USI returns to action Saturday at 3 p.m. when it travels to Quincy, Illinois, to take on Quincy University. The Lady Hawks (7-5, 2-1 GLVC) defeated Bellarmine University in four sets Friday night.

Short Box Score (Match)

Univ. of Southern Indiana Volleyball

Southern Indiana vs Truman State (Sep 23, 2016 at Kirksville, MO)

Truman State def. Southern Indiana 25-22,25-13,18-25,25-18

Southern Indiana (6-6, 1-2 GLVC)

(Kills-aces-blocks) – Whitfield, Te’Ayla 11-0-1; Zwissler, Amy 8-0-1; Jung, Amanda 8-0-0; Morris, Shelbi 8-2-0; Humphrey, Mikaila 8-0-0; Peoples, Erika 1-0-1; Totals 44-2-3.0. (Assists) – Peoples, Erika 37. (Dig leaders) – Farrell, Shannon 22; Morris, Shelbi 14; Limper, Haley 14; Peoples, Erika 11

Truman State (3-9, 2-1 GLVC)

(Kills-aces-blocks) – Viviano, Claire 14-0-2; Bastian, Kayla 14-1-0; Hildebrand, Holly 6-0-4; O’Drobinak, Bailey 6-2-1; Hill, Lacey 6-0-4; Hughes, Savvy 5-0-0; Livingston, Jocelynn 1-1-0; Berthold, Emma 0-0-1; Callaway, Liv 0-1-0; Wacker, Lauren 0-2-0; Totals 52-7-10.0. (Assists) – Hughes, Savvy 43. (Dig leaders) – Bastian, Kayla 21; Wacker, Lauren 14; Hughes, Savvy 13; Livingston, Jocelynn 9

Site: Kirksville, MO (Pershing Arena)

Date: Sep 23, 2016   Attend: 110   Time: 1:55

Referees: Bruce Huddleson, Robert Fessler

University of Southern Indiana men’s soccer junior goalkeeper Adam Zehme (Orland Park, Illinois) stopped a University of Wisconsin-Parkside penalty kick with 1:11 remaining to preserve a 3-2 Screaming Eagles’ victory Friday night at Strassweg Field. USI, which has won four-straight, watched its record rise to 6-1-0 overall and 4-1-0 in the GLVC, while UW-Parkside falls to 2-4-1, 0-4-1 GLVC.

At 6-1-0 overall to start the year, the Screaming Eagles are off to their best start since 1986 when USI began the year, 5-1-2. The Eagles best start in the history of the program came in 1982 when they were 6-0-2 through eight games.

Zehme capped off his sixth win of the year with six saves, the final coming on a penalty kick at 88:49 after the Eagles were called for a foul in the box. The sixth win of the year also tied a career-high for Zehme.

It was the Rangers who struck first in the match with a goal at 28:12 and would hold the 1-0 lead until the last five minutes of the opening half. USI senior defender Michael Sass (New Palestine, Indiana) evened the match, 1-1, with his first goal of the year at 43:17.

Sass scored on a throw in from freshman midfielder Sean Rickey (Columbia, Illinois), heading the ball into the bottom left corner of the Rangers’ goal.

In the second half, USI took command with 30 minutes to play in the match by scoring a pair of goals in a span of five minutes. Junior midfielder Kyle Richardville (Vincennes, Indiana) gave USI a 2-1 lead at 60:37 when he put away the rebound of a shot by freshman forward Eric Ramirez (Vincennes, Indiana). The goal was Richardville’s second of the year.

Rickey extended the Eagles’ advantage to 3-1 with the eventual game-winning goal at 65:04. Freshman midfielder Adam Becker (Columbia, Illinois) and junior defender Jacob Dickerson (Louisville, Kentucky) assisted on Rickey’s third tally of the season.

The Rangers would make a game of it, closing the gap to 3-2 with a goal at 74:49. The USI defense would clamp down for the final 15 minutes, allowing UW-Parkside only two more shots at the Eagles’ goal, including the penalty kick.

USI concludes the GLVC home weekend Sunday at 2:30 p.m. when it hosts Lewis University. Lewis saw its record go to 1-6-0 overall, 0-5-0 GLVC, after losing in double overtime at Bellarmine University this evening, 1-0.

The Eagles trail the Flyers in the all-time series, 22-21-1, and hope to even the series on Sunday. USI, currently, has the momentum in the series, winning three of the last four.