Trailblazer volleyball picks up road Region 24 win in five-set thriller

MT. CARMEL, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer volleyball team were nearly handed their first loss in Region 24 play this season, before battling back to win in five sets over Wabash Valley 21-25, 25-14, 23-25, 25-17, 15-12.

VU got off to a slow start on the road against the Warriors, with WVC scoring five of the game's first six points.

The Blazers immediately answered with a small 3-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to a single point.

Wabash Valley would continue to build leads of four and five points throughout the set, only to have the Blazers respond with a scoring run to cut the lead back down to one or two.

Vincennes was never able to fully complete the comeback, as Wabash Valley finished out set one, 25-21.

VUVB began the second set on a mission, jumping out to a 6-2 advantage, before the Warriors would respond to even the score at six-all.

After a pair of side outs, VU opened the set up by scoring 10 of the next 11 points, to take a commanding 17-8 lead.

Wabash Valley tried to respond, but the lead was too much as Vincennes evened the match by winning set two 25-14.

Set three was back-and-forth battle early on, with the two teams even at 6-6 before Wabash Valley launched a scoring run to open an 18-11 advantage.

The resilient Blazers managed to claw their way back into the set, evening the score at 22, as this set looked to be headed to overtime.

The Warriors defended their home floor accordingly, with the hometown crowd behind them, the Warriors closed out the third set, going the distance. Winning 25-23.

With their backs against the wall, the Blazers needed to force a fifth set and jumped out to a 15-9 lead midway through the set four.

Wabash Valley would cut the lead down to four points, before Vincennes closed out the set on a 5-1 scoring run to take set four 25-17 and force a winner-take-all fifth set.

VU rode the momentum from the end of set four in to set five, scoring the first four points behind some well-placed serves from sophomore Grace Earp (Mattoon, Ill.).

The two evenly matched teams traded scoring runs, followed by a lengthy back-and-forth of side outs, giving the Blazers a 14-10 lead.

Wabash Valley scored the next two points, prompting VUVB head coach Gary Sien to call a timeout to slow the momentum.

The Blazers came out of the timeout able to run their offense on the next serve, with freshman Hannah Graber (Montgomery, Ind.) serving up sophomore Breanna Metzger (Dale, Ind.) for the kill, giving VU the set and the match 15-12.

"What a gritty performance this was," Sien exclaimed after the match. "We battled back from being down 1-2 in an extremely hostile environment and less than ideal circumstances."

"The team made a huge statement tonight, that when things around us are going south, we can rally around each other, not give up and find a way to win," Sien added.

Vincennes was led offensively by the hitting tandem of freshmen Addison Ainscough (Cannelburg, Ind.) and Jagoda Szybinska (Poznan, Poland), who combined to finish with 41 kills on the night.

Ainscough led the Blazers with 21 kills, while also completing a double-double with 15 digs and a pair of aces and block assists.

Szybinska ended her night with 20 kills, while also contributing five digs and a block assist defensively and adding a pair of aces from the service line.

Breanna Metzger finished the match with eight kills and a team-high five blocks on the night.

Sophomore Jamie Russell (East St. Louis, Ill.) also came through offensively for VU, ending with seven kills and three set assists, while also adding seven digs and four blocks defensively.

Setters Hannah Graber and Josephine Mulligan guided the Vincennes offense well, yet again, with the duo both finishing with double-doubles.

Graber led the Blazers with 30 set assists with 13 digs defensively, while Mulligan added 24 set assists and 14 digs.

The VUVB defensive stars were sophomores Grace Earp and Amee Beedle (Wheaton, Ill.).

Earp led VU with 34 digs on the night, with Beedle following close behind with 24. Beedle also finished with a pair of kills, one block and a set assist as well.

Sophomore Emilie Cornelson (Saskatoon, Canada) and freshman Malgorzata Banasiak (Gdynia, Poland) were shuffled in and out of the lineup to help with the VU front row.

Cornelson ended the match with four kills, three blocks and two digs and Banasiak finished with a pair of kills and one block on the night.

"Our defense was exceptional, as Grace, Amee and Addison seemingly covered every inch of the floor," Sien said. "Our service receive was more on point as the match went on and Jagoda and Addison put down over half our total kills. But it was because the team put them in the best position to do that," Sien said.

VU will need to rest and recover quickly from this match as they hit the road tomorrow afternoon to face Lake Land College Saturday, Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. in Mattoon, Ill.

This is the second meeting between these two teams in just four days, with the Blazers sweeping the Lakers Wednesday night in Vincennes.

Wabash Valley – 25  14  25  17  12

VUVB (13-3, 5-0) –  21  25  23  25  15

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Josephine Mulligan – 2 points, 2 aces, 14 digs, 24 set assists

Amee Beedle – 2.5 points, 2 kills, 1 block assist, 24 digs, 1 set assist

Addison Ainscough – 24 points, 2 aces, 21 kills, 2 block assists, 15 digs

Emilie Cornelson – 5.5 points, 4 kills, 3 block assists, 2 digs

Jagoda Szybinska – 22.5 points, 2 aces, 20 kills, 1 block assist, 5 digs

Breanna Metzger – 10.5 points, 8 kills, 5 block assists, 4 digs

Jamie Russell – 9.5 points, 7 kills, 1 solo block, 3 block assists, 7 digs, 3 set assists

Grace Earp – 34 digs

Hannah Graber – 2 points, 1 ace, 1 kill, 13 digs, 30 set assists

Malgorzata Banasiak – 2.5 points, 2 kills, 1 block assist