Women's Volleyball

Contact VU Volleyball: 812-888-4478 or gsien@vinu.edu

Veteran coach Gary Sien was chosen in June 2016 to head up the Trailblazer program. Sien’s first season as head coach at VU was also the first season the Trailblazers would compete at the NJCAA D-I level. Trailblazers were ranked #20 in the NJCAA D-I National Poll for the week of September 20th, after a 13 – 1 start to their season. Vincennes finished 29 – 9 with an amazing 10 – 0 record at home. VU won the Blazer Classic Tournament and reached the semi-finals of the NJCAA District J playoff tournament.

The Fall 2023 season was another excellent season for the Trailblazers and once again raising the bar as the most successful VUVB season since moving to Division I in 2016. The Trailblazers completed the Region 24 three-peat, winning their third straight Region 24 title with a 36-0 record in Region matches over the last three seasons.

VU also had four first team NJCAA DI All-Region 24 recipients, including the first ever back-to-back Player of the Year in Paige Parlanti, VU’s fourth Region POY since 2018. Parlanti would also earn NJCAA DI Offensive Player of the Week honors, 2023 VolleyballMag NJCAA DI All-American honors for the second year in a row and earned NJCAA DI All-American honors, the first Trailblazers to earn this honor since 2006 and first since moving to Division I.

Vincennes reached their highest NJCAA DI National Ranking during the Fall 2023 season, being ranked No. 18, were Blazer Classic and Showdown on the Wabash Tournament Champions and finished with an overall record of 32-7, the most wins by a VU team since moving to Division I.

Three student-athletes were named NJCAA All-American candidates and four athletes finished Top-10 in seven statistical categories at the NJCAA Division I level including total kills, kills per set, total digs, hitting percentage, total blocks, blocks per set and total set assists.

The VU Volleyball program also celebrated three major milestones by VU athletes, with sophomores Paige Parlanti surpassing 1,000 career kills, Maecy Johnson surpassing 1,000 career set assists and Morgan Netcott surpassing 1,000 career digs during the Fall 2023 season.

The Trailblazers repeated as Division I Region 24 Champions in 2022, amassing a two-year record of 24-0 against Division I Region 24 teams. The 2022 VU Volleyball team had three First Team All-Region 24 recipients, including the 2022 Player of the Year (Paige Parlanti, Las Vegas, Nev.). The 2022 Trailblazers won the ‘Showdown on the Wabash’ Tournament, finished with an overall record of 29-9 and reached the Semi-Finals of the NJCAA District Midwest B tournament. One student-athlete was named to the VolleyballMag NJCAA DI All-American Team (Parlanti), while two were named as NJCAA All-American candidates. Coach Sien also received the 2022 NJCAA DI Region 24 Coach of the Year award.

Coach Sien recorded his 700th career victory at the NJCAA level in October of 2022 in VU’s Region 24 Championship victory. Coach Sien is one of seven active coaches to reach the 700-win milestone and one of 15 in NJCAA history to reach this mark. 

The Fall 2021 VU Volleyball team had the program’s best season since moving to Division I, winning VU’s first Division I Region 24 volleyball championship and VU’s first volleyball Region title since 2006. Three student-athletes were named First Team All-Region 24, including VU’s second Region 24 Player of the Year (Grace Earp, Mattoon, Ill.). The Trailblazers finished the year with a 22-4 record, winning the ‘Showdown on the Wabash’ tournament and reaching the Semi-Finals of the NJCAA District Midwest A tournament. Two student-athletes were named NJCAA Academic All-Americans and Coach Sien received the NJCAA Region 24 Division I Coach of the Year award.

During the Spring 2021 season the Blazers finished with a 15-11 record as Region 24 Tournament Runners up and reached the Semi-Finals of the NJCAA District Midwest A Tournament. The Blazers were received votes for the NJCAA DI National Poll.

The Spring 2021 Blazers finished with two First-Team All-Region recipients, six NJCAA Academic All-Americans, one sophomore committed to a four-year school and earned the honor of NJCAA Academic Team of the Year.

The 2019 season saw Sien lead the Blazers to a Second-place regular season finish in Region 24, with three players being named to the All-Region team. VU won the Kankakee Community College Tournament on their way to leading the nation in total team blocks and team digs. Sien reached a milestone of his own in 2019, notching his 100^th victory as head coach of the Blazers on October 5^th.Vincennes would reach the semi-finals of the NJCAA District Midwest A playoff tournament this past season.

In 2018, Sien reached a personal milestone with his 600th win in the NJCAA ranks. The Trailblazers continued to have success winning a share of the Region 24 regular-season title in the team’s first year in the Region, with a 27-13 record. The Trailblazers were Showdown on the Wabash Tournament champions as well. Three Trailblazers were recognized with All-Region honors including the Region 24 Player of the Year (Alison Smith, Oakland, Ill.). 

20 Trailblazers, under Sien, have committed to 4-year programs and 21 have been named NJCAA Academic All-Americans.

Sien brings a wealth of success in NJCAA volleyball, as well as valuable experience at the four-year program level. He was the head coach at Kankakee Community College for 16 seasons.

In addition to amassing 525 wins and leading 14 NJCAA Top-25 seasons with the Cavalier program, Sien oversaw two NJCAA Region 4 championship teams (2001, 2004), produced five NJCAA All-Americans and 34 All-Region 4 student-athletes and saw the Kankakee program turn out seven NJCAA Academic All-Americans.

He was also rewarded with NJCAA Region 4 Coach of the Year honors four times.

A 1989 graduate of Trinity International University, Sien was a team captain for the Trojan men’s volleyball program for three seasons and was named the team’s Most Valuable Player as both a sophomore and junior. He was also selected to be a member of the first Athletes In Action men’s volleyball team to travel to South America in 1986.

Sien has logged 39 seasons in the collegiate coaching ranks. He was a head coach in 37 of those years. In addition to the 16 seasons as the women’s volleyball coach at Kankakee, he has put in nine years as a men’s volleyball coach and ten years as a women’s coach at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and National Christian College Athletic Association levels.