Do you know a senior deserving of the highest award given by UE?  Ten finalists will be honored at a luncheon in May and one male and one female will be given this award at commencement.  Selection is based on demonstrated leadership, academic achievement and future contribution to society.

The Guthrie May and Mabel Dillingham Nenneker Outstanding Senior Service Award nominations will be accepted March 7-April 7.  The nomination application is available at this link:
http://acelink.evansville.edu/areas/studentaffairs/files/OSSANominationApplication.pdf

Please print it out and share copies with students whom you would like to nominate so they can complete the requirements and submit their applications.  Copies are also available in the Dean of Students office.   Applications must be submitted to the dean of students' office by April 7.  Questions can be referred to Karen Martin at km306@evansville.edu or 812-488-2500.

UE Libraries will observe the following schedule of hours during the Spring Break recess beginning on March 8.

* Friday, March 7:  7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
* Saturday, March 8:  CLOSED
* Sunday, March 9: CLOSED
* Monday, March 10:  7:30 a.m. -5:00 p.m.
* Tuesday, March 11:  7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
* Wednesday, March 12:  7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
* Thursday, March 13:  7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
* Friday, March 14:  7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
* Saturday, March 15:  CLOSED
* Sunday, March 16:  3:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m.

Regular hours resume on Monday, March 17.

UE Director of Orchestras Brian St. John has composed a new ballet based on the Hans Christian Andersen classic story, "The Little Mermaid." The ballet's world premiere will take place in Evansville at the Victory Theater on Saturday, March 15, at 7:00 PM. Dr. St. John will be conducting the Evansville Philharmonic Youth Orchestra for the premiere. The ballet is choreographed by Mark Bush and will be danced by Evansville Ballet Theater. UE student Sarah Stolnack is the lighting designer. Tickets are available through the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, 812-425-5050. This is the eighth ballet that St. John has written and premiered.

Sporting the lowest stroke average in the Missouri Valley Conference in the fall, the University of Evansville men's golf team looks to keep that success going into the spring, beginning with the Benbow Invitational on Monday and Tuesday at the Jacksonville Beach Golf Club in Jacksonville, Fla.

As a team, the men averaged 292.23 strokes per round last fall, over two strokes better than its nearest competition. Spearheading that effort was sophomore Alex Turner, whose 71.38 average sat atop the MVC.

Turner saved his best for last, carding a season-low 68 in the final round of the Hummingbird Intercollegiate en route to a tie for third in the tournament. That came after an even better second-place tie at the Dayton Flyer Invitational where he shot a 1-under 139 in the two rounds of play.

Reigning MVC Elite 18 winner Quinn Vilneff posted a 72.62 mark in the fall, marking the No. 4 average in the league. Vilneff shot a low round of 67 in the CSU Intercollegiate on his way to a fifth place outing. He followed that up by tying for fifth place in the Butler Fall Invitational, shooting a 143 in two rounds.

Rounding out the Aces outstanding efforts in the Valley rankings was Parker Hensley, who gave the Aces three of the top 12 golfers in the conference. He finished with a 73.70 in the fall, good for 12th place. Hensley's low round of 68 came at the Butler Fall Invitational as his 1-under 139 for the event tied him for second place.

The men face six events in the spring as they travel to the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate next week in Sevierville, Tenn.
 

On Monday, the spring season officially begins as the Purple Aces women’s golf team will take part in the Don Benbow Invitational, which will be hosted by Jacksonville Beach Club in Jacksonville, Fla. The event will take place on March 10 and 11.

Leading the way into the spring is freshman Kayla Katterhenry. She burst onto the scene in the fall, earning a pair of Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Golfer of the Week awards. Through her first five tournaments, Katterhenry earned a stroke average of 76.09, tied for the sixth best in the MVC.

Her top two finishes came in the opening events (Redbird Invitational and SIUE Intercollegiate) as she tied for third place in both contests.

Paige Crafton posted the second-best average on the squad, averaging 78.27 strokes over the course of 11 rounds. Her top effort of an 11th-place tie came at the Butler Invitational, but her consistency has been the key to her game. Just one of her 11 rounds has been higher than an 82 while she finished in the top 25 in four of the five fall events.

Junior Cathy Doyle wrapped up the fall with a 79.55, but came on strong in the final three tournaments. Her last five rounds came in at a 78 or lower as she finished in seventh place at the Dayton Intercollegiate before tying for 8th in the home Braun Intercollegiate.

As a team, the women improved as the fall went on and posted the No. 8 average in the MVC over that span, checking in at a 313.45. The Benbow Invitational marks the first of five spring events for the ladies.
 

Over the next four days, the University of Evansville women’s tennis team will play three matches in Tampa, Fla. and Fort Myers, Fla. as the squad looks to build off of a 6-1 win over Austin Peay last weekend.

Evansville opens the week against South Dakota on Monday at noon in Tampa before facing Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday at noon in Fort Myers. On March 13, UE wraps up the trip versus James Madison in Tampa.

After an 0-5 start to the spring, the women have won two of their last three matches, including a 4-3 victory over UT Martin in the home opener on Feb. 21.

Doubles play has seen the duos of Natasha James and Kelsey Costales go 3-1 with Marketa Trousilova and Marina Moreno going a perfect 2-0. The Aces have used nine different doubles lineups but have been having success with those squads over the last few weekends.

Trousilova along with Mina Milovic have been the top performers for the Aces on the singles side. Both have posted identical 4-4 marks to lead the Aces. Making the record even more impressive for Milovic is just how well she has rebounded after going 5-16 in dual singles a season ago.

The Coyotes of South Dakota enter Monday’s matchup with a 2-4 record. They earned a dominant 7-0 win over Valparaiso on Jan. 31 while taking an 8-1 triumph over St. Cloud State on Feb. 22. Last time out, the Coyotes fell to Bradley by a 5-2 final. Nina Barudzic is 4-0 in the spring, seeing time in the fifth and sixth flights while Yamini Reddy is 3-1 in the fourth and fifth spots.

Florida Gulf Coast begins the week at 4-4 with their top effort being a 7-0 shutout over Iowa State in the opener on Jan. 17. The Eagles have won two of their last three matchups, defeating Bethune-Cookman at home before take a road win at Florida Atlantic on Feb. 22.

Candela Munoz Giron is 5-1 in dual singles this spring, including a 3-0 mark in the sixth slot. At top singles, Sarah Means has won five of her eight matches.

Thursday’s opponent – James Madison – comes to Tampa with a 5-2 record this season. The Dukes are riding a 4-match win streak, with impressive 4-3 wins over Connecticut and Cincinnati highlighting the stretch.

D.J. Balentine was the leading scorer once again, tallying 31 points on a 10-of-21 shooting day, but four Wichita State players finished in double figures as the Shockers took an 80-58 win in the second round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Scottrade Center.

Evansville finishes its season at 14-19, but returns everyone next season, including Balentine, who will finish among the top ten scorers in the country. The Aces are also poised to add Villanova transfer Mislav Brzoja to their squad.

Balentine was the leading scorer in the game while Egidijus Mockevicius added 11 points and 11 rebounds for his tenth double-double of the season. Mockevicius led the MVC in shooting percentage and rebounding while finishing second in blocked shots.

Evansville’s defense held Wichita State scoreless for the opening two minutes while forcing three quick misses. D.J. Balentine got the Aces on the board in their first possession before Cleanthony Early gave the Shockers their first lead at 4-2 less than three minutes in.

A pair of triples saw Wichita State take their first lead of more than a possession as Ron Baker knocked down the first one of the day before Tekele Cotton hit the second giving WSU a 10-6 edge. That lead grew to 14-8 as the Shockers grabbed an early 5-1 advantage in offensive rebounds, which led to six second chance points.

Balentine willed the Aces back into it, scoring ten of UE’s first 14 points before Egidijus Mockevicius hit a nice shut from underneath the basket tying it up at 16-16 with 10:39 left in the half. The second trey of the day for Cotton put the lead back into Wichita’s hands on the ensuing possession.

UE fought back just two minutes later as Jaylon Brown hit a jumper from the free throw line to put the Aces back on top at 20-19. Cleanthony Early halted the rally, knocking down a trey before connecting on the ensuing free throw. His basket was the start of a 11-2 run that gave WSU its largest lead of the game at 30-22 with 5:43 left in the frame. Balentine drained his third 3-pointer which got UE back within five.

Wichita’s run continued, turning into a 22-11 stretch over the final nine minutes of the period. With 1:34 left, that edge reached as many as 13 points before Balentine hit his fourth triple to send the Aces to the locker room down just ten, 41-31. Evansville had a chance to get even closer after forcing a late turnover, but a layup at the halftime buzzer fell just short.

Balentine led everyone with 17 points in the half, knocking down 4 of his 6 3-point attempts. UE also led the rebounding battle at 17-15 including 6-6 on the offensive boards.

After the squads swapped 3-point possession to open up the second frame, another Balentine trey got Evansville back within eight points at 44-36. From there, the Shockers scored the next 13 points on their way to a 57-36 lead. The Aces missed seven shots in a row while Fred VanVleet capped it off with a 4-point play. Blake Simmons halted the rally with a pair of free throws.

The Aces hit just 2 of their first 15 shots in the second half, helping Wichita in their run. From there, it was all Shockers. Evansville got within 18 points while the Shocker lead reached 25 before the final 80-58.

Early and Baker tied for the team lead with 17 tallies while Cotton and Lufile added 11. WSU shot 51% on the day while holding UE to 37%. Evansville was just 8-30 in the second half. The rebounding battle was knotted at 36-36.