USI, Day post 54-hole school-records

Aces wrap up tournament in Murray 

MURRAY, Ky. – Led by Carson Parker’s 4-under 71, the University of Evansville men’s golf team earned a second-place finish at “The Buddy” at Miller Memorial Golf Course.

Evansville’s purple team posted a team score of 291 in Tuesday’s final round to complete the tournament with an 856.  USI took the team championship with a 3-round tally of 844.

Carson Parker scored a 4-under 67 in round three to rally for second place in the final standings.  His 207 was one shot behind medalist Jace Day from the Screaming Eagles.  Parker matched his second-round score on his way to the runner-up finish.

Tying for fourth was Caleb Wassmer.  One day after tying the Purple Aces school record with a 64, Wassmer tallied a 75 on Tuesday to finish with a 209.  Third for the purple squad was Nicholas Gushrowski.  He tied for 27^th with a score of 217.  Rounding out the team was Isaac Rohleder (T47-223) and Michael Ikejiani (59-235).

Daniil Romashkin was the top finisher for Evansville’s orange squad.  He enjoyed his lowest round of the weekend with a 1-under 70.  He completed the tournament with a 215 to tie for 22^nd.  Next up was Andres Rodriguez.  His round three score of 76 gave him a 220 for the weekend, earning him a tie for 36^th.

Masatoyo Kato and Luke Schneider tied for 41^st place with totals of 221 while Mason Taylor tied for 53^rd with a 227.

UE continues on the road as they head to Bethlehem, Pa. for the Lehigh University 2023 Invitational.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer sophomore defender Charli Grafton (Sunriver, Oregon) and redshirt freshman goalkeeper Anna Markland (Hoover, Alabama) received Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week honors on Tuesday.
 
Grafton captured OVC Defensive Player of the Week laurels for the second time this season, and Markland garnered OVC Goalkeeper of the Week accolades for the third time in 2023. USI Women’s Soccer has claimed six OVC weekly awards this season.
 
Last week, Grafton and Markland helped lead USI to a 0-0-2 record, as the Screaming Eagles recorded a 0-0 tie at home last Thursday against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and a 1-1 tie on the road on Sunday at the University of Tennessee at Martin. Southern Indiana is 4-6-6 overall with a 3-1-3 conference record, sitting in a tie for third place with 12 points. USI clinched its OVC postseason berth for the second consecutive season with the tie at UT Martin.
 
Additionally, with Grafton and Markland leading USI’s defensive unit, the Eagles have earned a result in nine of the last 10 matches. Before UT Martin’s goal in the 10^th minute on Sunday, the Screaming Eagles’ defense had not been scored on in the previous three full matches and 290 minutes. USI is also 3-0-2 in the last five home matches after the scoreless tie with SIUE last Thursday. USI Women’s Soccer is also enjoying a season-best unbeaten streak of five matches.
 
Individually, Grafton had another strong week leading Southern Indiana’s defense in the centerback position, playing every minute between the two matches. Grafton guided Southern Indiana to another shutout against SIUE and held the Cougars to only eight shots. After the early goal by UT Martin on Sunday, Grafton and USI’s defense held the Skyhawks scoreless the rest of the way which allowed USI to come back and tie the game in the second half.
 
In goal, Markland continued her solid stretch of goalkeeping in recent weeks, recording the fifth clean sheet of the season against SIUE. In the two tough matchups last week, Markland totaled 10 saves, grabbing five in each match. In the latter minutes of Thursday’s contest, Markland made four big saves within a minute after quick shots by the Cougars. Markland’s stout goalkeeping led USI to Sunday’s tie despite facing 20 shots from the Skyhawks.
 
On the season, Grafton has started every match and played every minute in 15 matches. Markland has also started every match, posting a 1.12 GAA with 62 saves. She ranks third in the OVC in GAA and fourth in saves. Her five shutouts are tied for second in the conference.
 
Grafton, Markland and the Eagles conclude the regular season this week with a home matchup Thursday at 7 p.m. against Southeast Missouri State University and a road contest at Eastern Illinois University at 1 p.m.
 
Both matchups this weekend can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+. Additional coverage links are on the USI Women’s Soccer schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball team is predicted to place ninth in the Ohio Valley Conference, as voted by the league’s 11 head coaches and athletic communications directors in a poll released today. The Screaming Eagles, who had 63 points in the OVC poll, also have been picked fifth by Blue Ribbon Magazine.

The Eagles are entering their second season as an NCAA Division I program after posting a 16-17 overall record, 9-9 in the OVC. USI, which appeared in the OVC Championship and the College Basketball Invitational in 2023, also completed the regular season with a .500 or better record for the 31st-straight year.

Morehead State University is predicted to win the conference for the second-straight year, earning 200 points and 20 first place votes. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville followed with 162 points, while Tennessee State rounded out the top three with 153 points and two first place votes.

Prior to making the jump to Division I, the Eagles spent 50 years in Division II and 43 years in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). USI finished its run in Division II with a national championship (1995), four regional championships (1994, 1995, 2004, 2019), and 12 GLVC titles.

2023-24 OVC Men’s Basketball Predicted Order of Finish                            
(Selected by OVC Head Basketball Coaches and Communication Directors)
Order of Finish (1^st Place Vote)  Points

Shafford and Raley selected for the preseason All-OVC squad

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball is projected to place sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference in a vote submitted by the league’s head coaches and communication directors.

USI heads into its second season in the Ohio Valley Conference after going 12-17 overall and 6-12 in conference play in 2022-23.

The 11-team OVC will feature a schedule with each team playing each other at least once for an 18-game schedule. For each team, two opponents will only face off once while the other eight will match up twice in a home-and-home split. The conference schedule will occur from December 29, 2023, through March 2, 2024. The conference’s season concludes with the OVC Basketball Championship Tournament at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana March 6-9, 2023.

Tennessee Tech University topped the OVC preseason poll with 196 points and 16 first-place votes. The University of Arkansas at Little Rock was picked second with 184 points and five first-place votes. Eastern Illinois University also received a first-place vote and picked up 157 points for a third-place projection.

The University of Tennessee at Martin was picked fourth with 135 points, and Southeast Missouri State University was selected fifth with 125 points. USI was sixth with 104 points in front of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with 89 points. Tennessee State University was picked eighth with 75 points while Morehead State University earned 64 points for ninth place. OVC-newcomer Western Illinois (49) and Lindenwood University (32) round out the poll.

As part of the OVC’s preseason announcement, Southern Indiana was represented by two players on the 2023-24 Preseason All-OVC Team. Senior forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) and junior guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) were selected.

Coming off a strong junior season in 2022-23, Raley averaged 13.3 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game, and shot 47.8% (133-278) from the floor. She also connected at the free throw line at an 80.6% (87-108) clip and recorded 2.1 assists per game. The Haubstadt, Indiana native won OVC Player of the Week honors twice during the 2022-23 season. Raley made 22 starts in 28 appearances last season.

Shafford made a huge jump in her sophomore season in 2022-23, starting all 29 games and leading the team in minutes played. Shafford posted 13.0 points per game and led the squad with 7.1 rebounds per contest, which was third in the OVC. She was second on the team with 2.2 assists and tied for a team-high 1.7 steals per outing. Shafford shot 44.2 percent (134-303) overall, and she ranked first in the OVC and fourth nationally in three-point percentage at 46.8 percent (66-141).

Entering the 2023-24 campaign, both players are inside the top-50 all-time in USI history for career points and rebounds. Raley has 804 points and 321 rebounds in her career. Shafford has tallied 559 career points and 301 boards.

The 2023-24 USI Women’s Basketball squad features eight returning players, including three starters, and six newcomers. USI Head Coach Rick Stein begins his 25^th season at the helm with a 423-254 record. Stein led USI into new territory last year in the program’s first season at the NCAA Division I level.

USI gets the 2023-24 season rolling on November 6 at 7 p.m. against Wright State University from Screaming Eagles Arena, the first of three consecutive home games to begin the season for the Eagles. Southern Indiana will have three Power-5 opponents during the non-conference slate, including road games at the University of Missouri (November 20) and Purdue University (November 26) as well as a home contest against the University of Cincinnati (December 17). The first OVC matchup for USI is on December 29 when the Eagles visit Southeast Missouri.

2023-24 OVC Women’s Basketball Predicted Order of Finish
(as voted on by the league’s head coaches and communication directors)
1. Tennessee Tech (16 first-place votes) – 196 points
2. Little Rock (5 first-place votes) – 184
3. Eastern Illinois (1 first-place vote) – 157
4. UT Martin – 135
5. Southeast Missouri – 125
6. Southern Indiana – 104
7. SIUE – 89
8. Tennessee State – 75
9. Morehead State – 64
10. Western Illinois – 49
11. Lindenwood – 32

2023-24 Preseason All-OVC Team
Veronica Charles, Morehead State
Anna Deets, Western Illinois
Jaliyah Green, Southeast Missouri
Tia Harvey, Little Rock
Faith Lee, Little Rock
Shae Littleford, UT Martin
Macy McGlone, Eastern Illinois
Miah Monahan, Eastern Illinois
Maaliya Owens, Tennessee Tech*
Meredith Raley, Southern Indiana
Vanessa Shafford, Southern Indiana
KK Rodriguez, SIUE
Anna Walker, Tennessee Tech
*Preseason OVC Player of the Year

Award is first in program history

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Giulia Cardona has been named the AVCA GameChanger Division I National Player of the Week in an announcement by the American Volleyball Coaches Association on Tuesday.

This marks the first such honor in Purple Aces volleyball history and comes on the heels of Cardona earning her third Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week accolade on Monday.

“I am so proud of Giulia, she keeps impressing us every week.  When we think she played her best volleyball she comes back and have a better week,” UE head volleyball coach Fernando Morales said.  “This is just evidence of the hard works she puts in and how much she cares about the team the program and winning.  I can’t even express how proud of her I am and of her teammates that helped her be in this position.”

Highlighting the week for Cardona was one of the best offensive performances in MVC history and the top efforts collegiate volleyball has seen in close to four years.  In Friday’s win over UIC, Cardona tied the MVC single match kills record with 40.  She became the first player in the national to record 40 kills since 2019 when it happened on three occasions.

The last instance came when Khalia Lanier of USC had 40 against Utah on Nov. 7, 2019.  Earlier that season, Jordan Thompson of Cincinnati did so on two occasions.  Both went on to spent time playing for the US National Team.

Cardona’s 40-kill contest against UIC tied the league record of Bobbi Becker (Petersen) with 40 kills in what was the longest match in NCAA history.  UE and UIC battled for 3 hours and 44 minutes, topping the longest match ever by six minutes.  Hawaii and BYU played a 3 hour and 38-minute game in 1998.

She opened the week with 27 kills against Indiana State while hitting .396.  She added nine digs, two blocks and an ace.  Her efforts against the Flames included 94 attempts, tying her for the second-highest total in Valley history.  On top of that, she posted 16 digs, a block, ace and assist.  The weekend finale saw her add 19 kills, 11 digs, four total blocks and three aces against Valpo.  For the week, she tallied 6.62 kills per set, totaling 86 in 13 sets.  Cardona averaged 2.77 digs, 0.54 blocks and 0.38 aces per frame.

Cardona becomes the first MVC player to earn the honor since Lily Johnson of Missouri State did so in 2017.