Sauget, Ill. – The Evansville Otters punched their ticket to the 2023 Frontier League postseason with a 6-0 win against the Gateway Grizzlies on Thursday night.

Tim Holdgrafer worked the Otters’ first complete game of the season. He earned the win in the shutout effort, giving up no runs on six hits, striking out six and not allowing a walk all evening.

The Otters broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning as Bryan Rosario scored on an error. Evansville added another as Noah Myers singled home a run.

The lead was tripled in the seventh as George Callil and Kona Quiggle each hit two-run home runs, bringing the lead to 6-0.

Holdgrafer led the Otters the rest of the way, sitting down the Grizzlies’ final seven batters.

Collin Sullivan received the loss for Gateway, allowing two runs on three hits across five innings of work.

In the win, Myers scored his 84th run of 2023, setting a new record for single season runs by an Otter, passing Josh Allen, who scored 83 in 2017.

The night not only clinched the Otters playoff spot, but also their final finish position. With Schaumburg’s win against Florence, Evansville will be the three seed and play at Schaumburg Tuesday, September 5th in the Frontier League West Division Wild Card game.

Before postseason action can begin, Evansville begins their final series of the 2023 regular season on Friday at Schaumburg for a 6:30 PM CT first pitch from Grizzlies Ballpark.

Aces face Samford and North Alabama

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Up next for the University of Evansville volleyball team is a trip south to Birmingham, Alabama for the Samford Invite.  The Purple Aces open against host Samford on Friday at 7 p.m. before playing North Alabama on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Last Time Out

– Tuesday’s home opener against the Aces defeat crosstown squad USI by a 3-1 final inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse

– Giulia Cardona registered a match-high 19 kills with Emilee Scheumann contributing 11

– Freshman Ainoah Cruz has led UE in digs in all three matches and posted her top tally of 20 in the win over the Screaming Eagles

– Evansville won the first two sets (25-22, 25-19) before USI was victorious in the third game by a 25-23 final

– In the fourth game, the Aces fended off a late challenge to clinch the match with a 25-23 decision

Player of the Week

– Highlighted by a career-best 28 kills against Central Michigan, Giulia Cardona was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week on Monday

– It was the second time Cardona has earned the accolade

– After recording 19 kills versus USI, Cardona continues to pace the MVC with 5.08 kills per set; her average is 11th in the country

– She is second in the league and 10th nationally with 0.92 service aces per game

Clutch Performance

– Providing the leadership that is needed from a senior, Emilee Scheumann played a pivotal role in the home-opening win over USI

– Scheumann came off the bench to finish with 10 kills while hitting .421

– The effort was one short of her career kills mark of 11

– Her efforts helped the Aces stave off multiple rallies from the Screaming Eagles

Three-for-three

– With the matches complete in 2023, freshman Ainoah Cruz has anchored the defense for the Purple Aces

– Highlighted by her top total of 20 digs against USI, Cruz has led UE in that category in each match thus far

– After opening the season with 11 digs against SEMO, Cruz registered 15 in the win over the Chippewas

– Her season average of 3.83 leads the team and is 9th in the Valley

– She has also added a total of five service aces

Racking up the Blocks

– Brooke Springer is currently ranked 6th in the conference with a season average of 1.25 blocks per set

– With five solo blocks, Springer is tied for second in the league

– She is coming off her top offensive performance of the season as she tallied 6 kills against USI

Scouting the Opposition

– On Friday, the Aces open the weekend against reigning Southern Conference Tournament Champion Samford

– The Bulldogs were 19-13 last season and swept Furman in the SoCon Championship Match to advance to the NCAA Tournament

– Last weekend, Samford earned sweeps over Miami Ohio and Alcorn State while dropping a 3-2 contest at Memphis

– Gracie Lynn Butler paces Samford with 5.00 kills per set

– Following a 13-15 campaign in 2022, North Alabama opened the season with a 2-1 mark at last weekend’s A-State Invitational

– UNA defeated Louisiana Tech (3-2) and Little Rock (3-0) before falling to Arkansas State in five sets

– Brenna Tietz leads the Lions with an average of 2.62 kills

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (1-3) is set to battle Murray State University (9 a.m.) and Bellarmine University (6:30 p.m.) on Friday before taking on the University of New Orleans (11 a.m.) on Saturday in the Bellarmine Invitational in Louisville, Kentucky. This will be the second tournament the Screaming Eagles have competed in this season.
 
Game Coverage
Information about USI Volleyball, including live stats, video, and audio broadcasts, is available on USIScreamingEagles.com. 
 
Tickets
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Screaming Eagles Headlines:
Eagles challenged Aces. The Screaming Eagles showed intensity against the University of Evansville in a 3-1 loss. USI dropped the first two sets before taking the third and almost winning the fourth.
 
Consistent Starts. In their first four matches, senior Leah Anderson has racked up 10 or more kills while junior Carly Sobieralski has totaled 20 or more assists in the same number of matches.
 
Double-Doubles. Three Eagles have secured double-doubles this season. Senior Abby Bednar and junior Carly Sobieralski each have earned a pair of double-doubles while senior Leah Anderson has recorded one.
 
OVC Leaderboard. USI ranks second in digs per set (16.57) and opponent service aces per set (1.21) within the conference. The Eagles also stand fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.177) while standing fifth in points per set (14.50) and assists per set (10.36).
 
OVC Leaders. Junior Abby Weber is second in the conference with 0.73 service ace per set while senior Leah Anderson is fourth best in kills per set (3.79) and points per set (4.46). Junior Carly Sobieralski is third in assists per set (8.93) while sophomore Keira Moore has the sixth most digs per set (3.93).
 
Team Leaders. Senior Leah Anderson leads the pack in a pair of categories with 53 kills while junior Paris Downing has nabbed 12 blocks, seven coming against Evansville. Junior Carly Sobieralski has shown true potential in the passing game, putting up 125 assists. Junior Abby Weber has produced a team-leading eight service aces while sophomore Keira Moore has added 55 digs to the stat line.
 
Aucoin gets first win. Newly hired head coach Jeffrey Aucoin earned his first-ever head coaching win on Friday against Radford. Prior to USI, Aucoin spent 10 seasons at Harvard University as an assistant coach.
 
History in Progress. Senior Leah Anderson will look to leave her mark as one of the greatest in USI Volleyball history. She enters the 2023 season ranked all-time at USI at No. 3 with 169 career service aces, No. 5 with 1,284 kills, and No. 10 with 1,135 digs. The outside hitter became the 15th player to reach 1,000 kills, the 13th player to reach 1,000 digs, and the fifth player in program history to reach both feats. She has joined an elite group that includes Shannon Wells, Jamie Roth, Danielle Peter, and Leeanne Gross in the 1,000 kills/1,000 digs club.
 
About Murray State. The Racers are 2-1 going into the tournament after defeating a pair of OVC opponents at the Leatherneck Classic. MSU has totaled 189 kills, 160 assists, and 24 aces to go along with 223 digs and nine blocks. The Racers rank 44th in the nation in digs per set (15.93). This will be the third matchup all-time between the USI and MSU with the Racers leading the series, 2-0, after sweeping the Eagles in last year’s season opener.
 
Leading the Racers. Junior Bailey DeMier leads MSU at the line and in the passing game, recording 140 assists and 11 aces. Senior Darci Metzger leads the group with 59 kills while senior Dahlia Miller has nabbed 53 digs. Sophomore Haidi Miliou has taken over the net with a team-leading five blocks.
 
About Bellarmine. The former GLVC and DII rival has had a slow start to the season, going 0-3 at the Mountaineer Classic. The Knights have totaled 102 kills, 91 assists, and 13 aces to pair up with 110 digs and 16 blocks. Bellarmine has won seven straight and nine of the last 10 against USI with the last meeting dating back to October 2019.
 
Leading the Knights. Freshmen Natalie Bland and Maddie Hagan have fulfilled their new roles by leading the team in a pair of categories in kills (Bland, 30) and blocks (Hagan, 7). Senior Macie Garrison has 42 assists while senior Anna Lococo has 35 digs with sophomore Tessa Nauert holding a team-high five aces.
 
About New Orleans. The Privateers are 1-2 after competing in the GSU Invitational. UNO has recorded 117 kills, 108 assists, and 18 aces to go with 144 digs and 15 blocks. This will be the first meeting between USI and UNO. The Privateers will face Murray State and Bellarmine before matching up with the Eagles.
 
Leading the Privateers. Graduate Student Karen Dordero Barr leads the pack with 32 kills and four aces while junior Claire Turner has recorded 49 assists. Defensively, junior Vera Beltrame has nabbed 24 digs while senior Sydney Gott has tacked on eight blocks.