MKTG-2

A review of 2015-16 sports program achievements.

Wichita State earned the 2015-16 Missouri Valley Conference All-Sports Trophy. It marked the fourth-straight season the Shockers claimed the league’s All-Sports crown. In addition, the title is the 10th in the past 13 years for Wichita State, which has a league best 22 all-time. Wichita State set a record with nine team titles, and the Shockers finished in the Top 3 in 13 of the 15 sports it sponsors. WSU claimed league championships in volleyball, men’s , women’s golf, men’s indoor track & field, men’s outdoor track & field, women’s outdoor track & field, softball, men’s tennis and women’s tennis.

A sport-by-sport overview:

In men's basketball, Wichita State became just the second MVC team to three-peat in the last 46 years, joining Southern (2002-03-04-05). For the second-straight year, the MVC compiled a 3-2 record in NCAA Tournament play. Wichita State (2-1) and UNI (1-1) had the identical results in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The Panthers had advanced to the NCAAs after defeating Evansville on a buzzer-beater at Arch Madness -- the first such occurrence in an MVC Men’s Basketball Championship game. Notably, Jeremy Morgan of UNI had 36 points and 12 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament second-round game against Texas A&M; the 36 points are the most scored by an MVC player in the NCAA Tournament since March 17, 1988, when of Bradley had 44 points in a 90-86 loss to Auburn. In 2016, D.J. Balentine of Evansville led the league in scoring and teammate Egidijus Mockevicius led the league in rebounding. They became the first pair of MVC teammates to sweep those statistical championships in three-straight seasons. Mockevicius also led the NCAA with 27 double-doubles. Wichita State’s Fred VanVleet – the Trophy winner for a second time in his career -- became the fourth player in league history to lead the league in assists per game for three-straight seasons. Notably, VanVleet and of Wichita State became the first pair of guards from the same team to earn first-team all-MVC honors three-straight seasons in the league’s 109-year history. VanVleet was on the floor for 120 Wichita State wins in his career, tying a team record held by Tekele Cotton. The win total is believed to be an MVC record. Southern Illinois tied for 7th best in the NCAA in improvement from 2014-15 to this past year. The Salukis (22-10) were one of four MVC teams to eclipse 20 wins last year. And Bradley was one of three teams in the country that fielded a roster that included at least 10 freshmen.

In women's basketball, four Valley teams reached post-season play. MVC Tournament champ Missouri State represented the league in the NCAA Tournament, and the Lady Bears were joined by Drake (WNIT), UNI (WNIT) and Southern Illinois (WBI) in post-season play. The Panthers reached the third round of the WNIT. In June of 2016, Stiles was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Notably, also in 2016, Loyola head coach Sheryl Swoopes (a star student-athlete for Texas Tech and in the WNBA) was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

In volleyball, for the third time in league history, four Valley teams were selected as part of the field of 64 to play for the 2015 NCAA national title. MVC regular-season and tournament champion Wichita State was joined by at-large selections Missouri State, UNI and Southern Illinois in the 2015 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. Four conference teams were also a part of the 2010 and 2007 NCAA Volleyball Championship fields. In men's soccer, Drake, which won the 2015 MVC Tournament title for the first time since 2009, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and fell to Creighton. Drake, the No. 3 MVC Tournament seed, won three games in five days to claim the MVC title. The Bulldogs finished the year at 13-5-3 overall, the most victories for the program since 2009. Southern Illinois Edwardsville claimed the league's regular-season title with a 5-1 league mark and 12-4-2 overall record. The Cougars won their first-ever Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title after defeating Loyola 1-0 in overtime at home in the season finale.

In women's soccer, Evansville won the 2015 MVC Tournament Championship and claimed the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Purple Aces and Loyola Ramblers played to a scoreless tie before UE advanced 5-3 on penalty kicks to claim their first MVC Tournament Championship since 2008. The Aces were the league's pre-season favorite, but recorded a 6-11- 3 mark, falling to 2015 NCAA defending champ Florida State, 3-0, in the opening round of the NCAAs. Drake led the league during the year, claiming the regular-season title with a 4-0-2 conference record. It marked the first title for Drake in women's soccer since 2006.

In softball, for the first time since 1989, regular-season champ Wichita State won the MVC Tournament, defeating No. 2 seed Drake in the title game. The Shockers represented the Conference in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005 when the Shockers received an at-large bid, and they picked up the first NCAA win in school history, beating Tulsa. Southern Illinois first baseman Shaye Harre earned second-team Academic All-America honors from CoSIDA. Harre was a first-team All-MVC and All-Region player in 2016 and also holds a 3.88 cumulative GPA in animal sciences. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association recognized 11 from the MVC on its 2016 NFCA Division I All-Region teams. Two from the MVC were on the First Team, four earned second-team honors and five were on the Third Team.

In baseball, regular-season and MVC Tournament Champion Dallas Baptist represented the league in the NCAA Tournament and was one win away from reaching the Super Regional, falling to No. 5 overall seed Texas Tech in the regional finals. Four league teams won 30+ games led by the Patriots’ league-best 44 victories. It marked the second-straight year that Dallas Baptist had eclipsed the 40-win plateau. A total of 17 players were taken in the 2016 Major League Baseball draft.

In men's golf, Southern Illinois won its first-ever MVC men’s golf championship, besting second-place Wichita State by 10 strokes. WSU had won eight-straight titles, and has now finished 1st or 2nd in 20-straight years. The Salukis represented the MVC in the NCAA Regionals. Notably, MVC Golfer of the Year Grant Bennett of Wichita State and MVC Championship medalist Trent Wallace of Illinois State competed as individuals in the regionals.

In women's golf, Wichita State became just the third team in MVC women's golf history to win the team title for three-straight years as the Shockers outdistanced second-place Indiana State by 13 strokes. Indiana State’s second-place finish tied ISU's best-ever finish in the conference women's golf championship. The 884 team total by Wichita State set an all-time MVC women's golf championship record, surpassing the previous standard set by Southern Illinois in 2007 (899). Indiana State also beat the previous team scoring record for a 54-hole MVC championship (897). Individually, WSU’s Taryn Torgerson's three-round 214 is second all-time at the Championship, trailing only a 212 score by Danielle Lemek of Bradley in 2014. In tennis, Wichita State's men's team was ranked No. 67 in the nation, won the league and represented the MVC in the NCAA Championship, falling to No. 19 Arkansas, 4-2 in the First Round. The Shockers (27-4) also claimed the MVC women's title, and it earned a No. 29 national ranking, falling 4-3 to No. 37 TCU in the NCAA Championship First Round. The Shockers were making an eighth-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in women's tennis and saw their school-record 17-match winning streak come to an end with the loss to TCU. The Shockers' 27 wins tied a program-best. Drake senior Maddie Johnson was named second-team CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I Women's At-Large Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). SIU senior Jonny Rigby was recognized as the 2016 ITA/Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award recipient in the Central Region, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced, and Wichita State's Rebecca Pedrazzi was the winner of the Central Region's 2016 Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship.

In women's swimming, for the first time in nine years the Southern Illinois women's swimming and diving team won the Missouri Valley Conference Championship title in the most tightly contested championship meet in conference history. The Salukis finished with 799.50 points, just half a above Missouri State at 799. The Salukis last won the conference championship in 2007, with Missouri State earning the title every year since.

Track & field continues to be one of the MVC’s strongest sports, as the MVC has now produced 18 national champions in the sport in the past 10 years. Notably, 20 student-athletes from MVC schools qualified for the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championship in Eugene, Ore., and all 20 earned All-America recognition. The Valley placed five athletes on the First Team, four on the Second Team and eleven as Honorable Mention. The list was highlighted by DeAnna Price of Southern Illinois who claimed first-place in the Women's Hammer Throw for the second-consecutive year. Notably, Price became just the third athlete in MVC history to be named a Bowerman Award semifinalist. Wichita State's men's and women's track and field teams won the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championship. Wichita State also claimed the indoor title on the men’s side, while Illinois State took home team honors at the MVC women’s indoor event.

In cross country, John Mascari of Indiana State claimed his fourth MVC Male Athlete of the Year honor as he crossed the finish line first in the 2015 MVC Cross Country Championship. On the women's side, Caitlin Busch of Bradley claimed Champion honors for the second- consecutive year. Bradley swept the team honors, marking the first time the Braves had accomplished that, marking just the second time this century a league team had swept both honors (Southern Illinois, 2013). Bradley’s Kristen Busch had an 83rd-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championship. She was the first female runner from the MVC to reach the NCAA Cross Country Championship since 2012. Mascari concluded his Sycamore Cross Country career with a 69th place finish at the national championship meet. Five MVC runners earned All-Region honorees from U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), including Reed Fischer, Drake; Mascari; Kristen Busch, Bradley; Emma Huston, Drake; and Taylor Austin, Indiana State.