Petrova ties for second

PROSPECT, Ky. – Finishing with a 78 in the final round, Kate Petrova tied for second place as the University of Evansville women’s golf came home in 10^th place at the Nevel Meade Collegiate at the Nevel Meade Golf Club.

Petrova finished the tournament with a 151.  Her effort tied her for the runner-up spot behind Dasa Urbankova of UIC.  She was the medalist with a 146.

Second for the Purple Aces was Destynie Sheridan.  After posting an 84 on Monday, Sheridan tallied an 88 in the final 18.  She finished in 48^th with a 172.  Finishing one behind her was Jane Grankina.  She lowered her score by one from an 87 to an 86 to finish with a 173.  Grankina tied for 49^th.

Allison Enchelmayer was next for the Aces.  Scores of 84 and 91 gave her a 175 for the weekend, which put her in 52^nd.  Trinity Dubbs completed play with a 183 while Carly Frazier registered a 189 as an individual.

Oakland and UIC were co-champions.  Both completed the event with a 626.  UE came home in 10^th place with a 671.

ATHENS, Ga. – Coming off a program-record-tying seventh-place national finish a year ago, Big Ten Champion and No. 8-ranked Indiana swimming and diving returns to the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships Wednesday (March 20) through Saturday (March 23) inside the Gabrielsen Natatorium on the campus of the University of Georgia.

Final sessions will start at 6 p.m. ET each evening. Preliminary heats will begin at 10 a.m. every morning beginning Thursday. Fans can stream the competition via the ESPN+ digital platform.

Thirteen Hoosiers qualified for the national meet – nine swimmers and four divers. Indiana also qualified all five relays.

The championships off Wednesday night with the 200-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay. Indiana has the No. 6-seeded 800-yard freestyle relay after crushing its program record by nearly three seconds with a 6:55.45 swim at the Big Ten Championships. The Hoosiers finished seventh in the event a year ago. IU is seeded within All-America position in the medley relay with a time of 1:35.81.

Thursday is the first full day of action as well as the first day of diving. All four divers on Indiana’s roster qualified on both springboards. The 50-yard freestyle is on program record watch; Sophomore Kristina Paegle and senior Ashley Turak are IU’s two fastest women ever in the event, posting program’s five quickest times over the last year. Turak broke the record twice at last year’s championships, going 21.90 to tie it in prelims and 21.81 during the evening. Paegle was 21.98 at the NCAA meet last year before beating Turak’s mark in 21.76 at the Big Ten Championships a few weeks ago.

The 500 freestyle features four Hoosier juniors Thursday: Anna Peplowski, Ching Hwee Gan, Elyse Heiser and Mariah Denigan. Peplowski is the No. 11 seed in the event, having posted an NCAA A cut 4:37.47 at Big Tens. Senior Anna Freed is IU’s lone competitor in the 200 IM. The 200-yard freestyle relay Thursday evening is IU’s top-rated relay, coming in as the No. 6 seed with a time of 1:26.66 that won the Big Ten title and set a program record.

Friday kicks off with the 400 IM as Anna Freed is within striking distance of scoring position, seeded 19th with a best time of 4:08.37. Peplowski is the No. 4 seed in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:42.04, representing as the Big Ten Conference Champion two years running. She’s joined by Heiser in the 200 free. Junior Brearna Crawford and Turak will race the 100-yard breaststroke.

Junior Kacey McKenna is IU’s top-seeded swimmer in any event in the 100-yard backstroke, blasting a program record, NCAA A cut 50.49 to win the Big Ten time and earn the No. 3 national seed. She’ll likely lead off IU’s 400-yard medley relay, which ranks No. 13 with a time of 3:30.33. At Big Tens, IU posted a time of 3:28.32 – which would rank No. 9 – but was disqualified.

All four divers will compete on the 3-meter springboard with the chance to score big – Indiana has the reigning national runner-up in senior Anne Fowler as well as the Big Ten Champion in Skyler Liu. Freshmen Ella Roselli and Lily Witte will join them having both scored at Big Tens.

Saturday, the final day of competition, features one of IU’s best events a year ago. Indiana returns Big Ten Champion and reigning NCAA runner-up Ching Hwee Gan and fellow juniors Mariah Denigan, who finished seventh nationally last season, and adds Heiser. McKenna will return for the 200-yard backstroke before three Hoosiers race in the 100-yard freestyle. Peplowski and Paegle are the No. 9 and 13 seeds, respectively, and are joined by Turak in the event.

The Big Ten 200-yard breaststroke champion, Crawford is the No. 13 seed in her best event with a seed time of 2:07.25. Freed rounds out individual swimming in the 200 fly. Indiana will look to jump onto the podium from the No. 9 seed in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the final race of the championships.

Two Hoosiers will compete in the platform diving event on the final day. Liu is this season’s Big Ten Champion on platform after finishing fourth in the NCAA last season – her first-career podium finish. Roselli joins Liu as IU’s second diver to qualify in all three diving events. The freshman was the top consolation final finisher at Big Tens.

MEET INFO

Wednesday, March 20 – Saturday, March 23 • 10 a.m. ET (prelims), 6 p.m. ET (finals)

Gabrielsen Natatorium • Athens, Ga.

Live Results (Swim): bit.ly/4cpj1FF/Meet Mobile App

Live Results (Dive): divemeets.com

Live Stream: espn.com/watch

SCHEDULED EVENTS (Finals)
Wednesday (6 p.m. ET) – 200 Medley Relay, 800 Freestyle Relay
Thursday (6 p.m. ET) – 500 Freestyle, 200 IM, 50 Freestyle, 1-Meter Dive, 200 Freestyle Relay
Friday (6 p.m. ET) – 100 Butterfly, 400 IM, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke, 3-Meter Dive, 400 Medley Relay
Saturday (6 p.m. ET) – 1,650 Freestyle, 200 Backstroke, 100 Freestyle, 200 Breaststroke, 200 Butterfly, Platform Dive, 400 Freestyle Relay

INDIANA SWIMMING AND DIVING QUALIFIERS
2024 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships
Brearna Crawford – 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke
Mariah Denigan – 500 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle
Anne Fowler – 1-meter, 3-meter
Anna Freed – 200 butterfly, 200 IM, 400 IM
Ching Hwee Gan – 500 freestyle, 1650 freestyle
Elyse Heiser – 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 1650 freestyle
Skyler Liu – 1-meter, 3-meter, platform
Kacey McKenna – 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke
Kristina Paegle – 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle
Anna Peplowski – 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle
Ella Roselli – 1-meter, 3-meter, platform
Ashley Turak – 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke
Lily Witte – 1-meter, 3-meter, platform
Relays: 200-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard freestyle relay, 800-yard freestyle relay, 200-yard medley relay, 400-yard medley relay

Evansville, In.:  Following a weekend sweep on the road in Macon, the Thunderbolts carry a three-game win streak back home to Ford Center as they host the Peoria Rivermen for Princess & Pirates Night on Friday and Hawaiian Night on Saturday.

Week In Review:

Down 2-0 on Friday in Macon, Mark Zhukov scored late in the 2^nd period, before Scott Kirton tied the game with a shorthanded goal in the final minute of regulation to force overtime and a shootout, where Myles Abbate, Kirton, and Vadim Vasjonkin scored goals to win the game for Evansville 3-2.  On Saturday, goals from Jordan Spadafore, Vasjonkin, Matt Dorsey, Lincoln Hatten, and Jordan Simoneau powered the Thunderbolts over Macon 5-2.  Ty Taylor picked up both wins in net, stopping 25 of 27 shots plus all three shootout attempts on Friday, and stopping 28 of 30 shots on Saturday.

The Week Ahead:

The Thunderbolts host the Peoria Rivermen this Friday and Saturday night at Ford Center, both games starting at 7:00pm CT.  Friday will be Princess & Pirates Night, featuring on-site inflatables from Legendary Inflatables, a hair tinsel station provided by B. Lanae Salon, an obstacle course in the back concourse outside section 113, and prizes from Deep Blue Indoor Play.  Saturday will be Hawaiian Night, featuring the final specialty game-worn jerseys of the season, which will be auctioned off after the game.  Replica jerseys will also be on sale at the Thunderbolts merchandise stand.  For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2548), go to EvansvilleThunderbolts.com, or visit the Ford Center Ticket Office.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Following the announcement of the full 48-team field for the 2024 Women’s NIT (WNIT) Postseason Tournament on Sunday night, Monday’s official bracket release slotted University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball to host the University of Illinois at Chicago Thursday night (March 21) at 7 p.m. CT at Screaming Eagles Arena.

Season-ticket holders can call the USI Ticket Office at 812-465-1189. starting Tuesday at 8 a.m. to reserve seats. General public sales will open at Noon Tuesday, but season-ticket seats will still be held for reservation until Wednesday at Noon. Tickets are $10 with the lower bowl as reserved seats and upper bowl general admission. USI students receive free admission.

A potential second-round matchup for Southern Indiana would be against the University of Wisconsin at a location and time to be determined. Wisconsin received a first-round bye in the WNIT bracket.

The 2024 WNIT is the 26^th edition of the Postseason WNIT, powered by Triple Crown Sports and first held in 1998. The tournament field is made up of 11 automatic qualifiers and 37 at-large programs, flexing a mix of Power 4 conferences as well as ascending mid-major programs. All games are played at individual schools; the 2024 Postseason WNIT has 24 teams that won at least 20 games this season.

The roster of teams reflects the depth and competitive excellence found throughout women’s college basketball and draws from Power 5 notables and ascending mid-major conferences. Games are played at campus locations, helping create unique and electric environments for the women’s game that has led to remarkable record-breaking crowds over the years – more than 14,600 fans attended the 2019 championship game featuring Arizona and Northwestern in Tucson, AZ, and last year’s title game in Lawrence, KS between Kansas and Columbia drew a crowd of 11,701.

The tournament schedule is as follows:
Round 1 – March 20-22, 2024
Round 2 – March 23-26, 2024
Round 3 – March 27-29, 2024
Quarterfinals – March 30-April 1, 2024
Semifinals – April 2-3, 2024

The 2024 Postseason WNIT will again have its championship game broadcast on CBS Sports Network, with tipoff set for Saturday, April 6, at 3 p.m. ET.

Fans can follow the 2024 Postseason WNIT through X/Twitter (@WomensNIT), Facebook (womensNIT), and the hashtag #WNIT.

In only their second year at the NCAA Division I level, the Screaming Eagles are making their first-ever appearance in the WNIT. Due to NCAA reclassification policies, USI is not eligible for the NCAA Tournament despite winning the Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament. The WNIT is a postseason tournament not sanctioned by the NCAA.

Southern Indiana (24-6) earned an automatic bid to the WNIT after capturing the 2023-24 Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship. USI added to a strong regular season run by winning the 2024 OVC Championship Tournament title a little over a week ago. Both titles were the first-ever OVC team championships in USI Athletics history.

USI won the regular season championship by six games before winning back-to-back games against Eastern Illinois University and the University of Tennessee at Martin in last week’s OVC Championship Tournament. USI defeated the Panthers by a score of 69-54 in the semifinals and by a score of 81-53 over UT Martin in the championship game.

USI’s 28-point margin of victory in Saturday’s championship game also ranked among the largest margins of victory in the OVC Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game history, just short of the championship game’s top-two point differentials of 32 and 30 points.

Compared to recent history, Saturday’s championship win put Southern Indiana with the likes of the University of North Dakota’s 2011-12 team (Great West Conference) and California Baptist University’s 2020-21 team (Western Athletic Conference) to win a regular season and conference tournament championship in the same season during a transition period.

Plus, Southern Indiana is currently enjoying a 10-game winning streak for the second time this season, matching a team best since the 2017-18 season. The 2017-18 season was also the last time USI had won at least 24 games overall as the Screaming Eagles have done so far this season.

Morales to continue work with the Purple Aces program

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Evansville head volleyball coach Fernando Morales has added another impressive line to his résumé with the announcement that he has been named the head coach of the South Korea National Team.

Morales will continue as head coach of the Purple Aces program along with his work with the South Korea squad.

“South Korea is a program with a lot of tradition and history.  They have won Olympic medals in the past and were among the best teams in the world,” Morales said.  “It is my goal to take them back to that competitive level.”

Evansville has a great deal of momentum heading into the 2024 season highlighted by Melanie Feliciano returning for her fifth season to team up with reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Giulia Cardona.

 Aces tied for 11^th in Sevierville

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – Carson Parker recorded an even score of 72 on Monday to jump into the top 25 at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate at the River Course of the Sevierville Golf Club.

After opening the tournament with a 77, Parker lowered his score by five strokes to an even 72.  With a 149, he is tied for 22^nd in the individual standings.  Second for the Purple Aces is Caleb Wassmer.  He led the team with a 76 on Sunday and completed Monday’s 18 holes with a 77.  His 153 is tied for 38^th.

Isaac Rohleder is third on the team with a 156.  Rohleder posted a 79 on Sunday before coming on with a 77 in round two.  He is tied for 56^th.  Andres Rodriguez checked in with an 81 in the second 18 holes.  Combined with his opening round 77, he has a 158.  Daniil Romashkin completed the round with an 82 and heads into the final day with a 163.

Belmont continues to hold the team lead, but a huge day by Lee University has them right on the Bruins’ heels.  Belmont heads into Tuesday’s final round with a 577 while Lee sits at a 581.  Pablo Riveiro of Chicago State paces the individuals with a 140.  He posted identical scores of 70 in the opening two rounds.  He is one in front of Belmont’s Michael Senn.