VU Trailblazers volleyball begins 2022 season with pair of home sweeps

VINCENNES, Ind. – The 2022 Vincennes University volleyball team began their Region 24 Championship defense Sunday afternoon, opening the season with a tri-match against Region 24 opponent Shawnee and East Central College from Missouri at the P.E. Complex.

The Trailblazers began the day by hosting the Shawnee Saints, opening their season with a big Region 24 showdown.

VU quickly jumped on top in set one, using a 10-0 scoring run to gain a commanding lead.

Vincennes continued to add on with a pair of five-point scoring runs to take the opening set of the season 25-6.

Shawnee held tough to begin set two with the Trailblazers holding a slim 7-5 advantage in the early stages, before VU would go on to outscore the Saints 18-4 to take set two 25-9.

Vincennes again had to battle through the early part of set three, with the set tied at seven-all.

VU would manage to grow a lead with an 8-1 scoring run as the Trailblazers held off Shawnee and completed the Region 24 sweep taking set three 25-13.

The Trailblazers were led offensively by freshman Paige Parlanti (Las Vegas, Nev.) who led the Blazers with nine kills against the Saints, while also adding four digs and a pair of aces.

Freshman Kennedy Sowell (Effingham, Ill.) had the hot hand against Shawnee, going on a scoring run at the net and ending her first collegiate match with six kills.

Sophomore setters Hannah Graber (Montgomery, Ind.) and Josephine Mulligan (Saint John, Ind.) ran the VU offense very well in the opening game of the season, with Graber ending with 13 set assists, along with five aces and Mulligan adding four set assists and two aces.

Freshman libero Morgan Netcott (Montague, Mich.) stepped up defensively for the Trailblazers, leading VU with seven digs from her back row position.

"Coming off of a very tough scrimmage yesterday at the University of Indianapolis, who will likely be one of the better NCAA Division II team this year, the question was what did we learn," VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. "I'm just proud of this team for being able to take everything that we learned yesterday and turn it around in less than 24 hours. We were very 'on task' against Shawnee and we did a very good job of limiting mental mistakes."

"One thing it seems like this VU team can do so far this year is to be able to go on some big scoring runs," Sien added. "We had some servers, like Hannah, who were able to put together some nice service runs. I really try to emphasize that if we can serve tough and be very surgical in our service locations, then we can be able to take control of the game."

The Trailblazers would return to their home floor to close out the opening day tri-match as VU hosted East Central College.

Set one of the final match of the day began as a back-and-forth battle, with Vincennes taking a 15-12 lead midway through the set.

The Trailblazers would go one to score eight of the next nine points, before East Central responded with a 4-0 scoring run of their own.

Vincennes would however earn the final two points and close out the first set over the Falcons 25-17.

VU began set two with a bang, opening the set on a 6-0 scoring run.

East Central would battle back to cut the lead down to 14-11, before Vincennes would use a 4-0 scoring run and a 5-0 scoring run to build a nine-point advantage and close out set two 25-15.

Vincennes found themselves in a battle in set three with East Central not wanting to go home on a sweep, VU put together a 14-10 lead, before closing out the set on an 11-1 scoring run to take set three 25-11 and complete their second sweep of the day.

"East Central was a more experienced volleyball team," Sien said. "They have hitters and they have height, but the game really comes down to ball control. Our setters really allowed us to go on some big service runs where we were able to keep scoring. But not only were they able to serve the ball well, but they made some good choices with the ball running our offense and got the ball into good locations where our hitters could get good swings."

"Our serving was really a big key for us against East Central, because we were able to attack spots on the floor," Sien added. "This was a good win for us because East Central is usually a pretty competitive NJCAA D-II team. We were able to put together big scoring runs, like in the third set, when the game was close and finish out the match like we did was a really nice way to end the day."

Vincennes was again led offensively by Paige Parlanti, who closed out the day with 13 kills for the Blazers and just missed her first career double-double with nine digs.

Sophomore Malgorzata Banasiak (Gdynia, Poland) and freshmen Audrey Buis (Franklin, Ind.) and Alexis Chrappa (Effingham, Ill.) each finished with four kills against East Central College, with Banasiak also adding three block assists.

Sophomores Hannah Graber and Josephine Mulligan each finished in double figures in set assists, with Graber collecting her ninth career double-double with 15 set assists and 14 digs on the day. Mulligan added 10 set assists, two digs and an ace.

Freshman libero Morgan Netcott also contributed three set assists, as she finished her day with 12 digs and an ace against the Falcons.

Freshman Tuana Turhan (Ankara, Turkey) helped the Blazers control the net defensively against East Central, with Turhan recording a solo block and three block assists, while also finishing off three kills offensively.

"One thing that we always like to tell our setters is that if a hitter is hot, go to her until they can stop her," Sien said. "Much like in basketball, if there is a hot shooter, find a way to get them the ball. Kennedy Sowell was that hitter for us against Shawnee. She did a really great job of running the middle to outside slide set and our setters were able to pick up on that without us having to tell them that."

"It is hard for us to find a high-level libero at our level, that's why we have to take the time to train a libero like Grace Earp or an Allison Ruddick," Sien added. "But Morgan Netcott is the type of player that we have been trying to get here. As someone who has been playing the position for years, so we don't have to take a year, or half a year to train them how to do it."

"Morgan is very experienced in high school and at the club level. Her high school coach said that she was one of the best liberos in Michigan and I don't think he was lying," Sien said. "She is very instinctive, very fast and has great footwork on the floor. I think it is very hard for someone to hit a ball past her."

"There were times in our rotation where we had five freshmen on the floor at the same time," Sien added. "Obviously our freshmen are going to have to play and we as coaches are very confident with them on the floor."

The Trailblazers will return to the P.E. Complex floor Tuesday, Aug. 23 when VU hosts Lincoln Trail College. This match is set to begin at 7 p.m. eastern.

Vincennes will continue to have a busy week as the Trailblazers hit the road for the first time Thursday, Aug. 25 to face-off again against Shawnee in Ullin, Ill. Before returning home Saturday, Aug. 27 for another tri-match at the P.E. Complex against Region 24 opponent Lake Land College and Bethel University JV.

"This week ahead is a little more than I would usually schedule this early in the season, but the nice thing about it is that we don't play on back-to-back days and two of the three dates head are at home," Sien said. "But we've got two more Region 24 games coming up this week, against Shawnee and Lake Land. Then our schedule will ease up and get more into a normal pattern after this week."

"Lincoln Trail usually plays us pretty tough," Sien added. "Then we turn around and play Thursday at Shawnee, which we know will be a little tougher than it was today. Saturday, we play Lake Land, which is a Region 24 game and every time we play a Region 24 team, we know we are going to get their best game."

"Overall, I would say this was a pretty good weekend for us, yesterday's scrimmage included," Sien said. "We are a better team today because of our scrimmage yesterday. We still have a long way to go, but today was a good start for us."

BOX SCORES

GAME ONE

Shawnee – 6  9  13  x  x

VUVB (1-0, 1-0) – 25  25  25  x  x

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Kaley Roush – 1 point, 1 kill, 1 dig

Josephine Mulligan – 4 points, 2 aces, 2 kills, 4 set assists

Audrey Buis – 2.5 points, 2 kills, 1 block assist, 3 digs

Lara Gomes de Castro – 2 digs

Morgan Netcott – 7 digs, 1 set assist

Paige Parlanti – 11 points, 2 aces, 9 kills, 4 digs

Alexis Chrappa – 2 points, 2 kills, 3 digs

Nisa Salis – 1.5 points, 1 ace, 1 block assist

Maecy Johnson – 2 set assists

Kennedy Sowell – 6 points, 6 kills, 1 dig

Tuana Turhan – 2.5 points, 2 kills, 1 block assist

Hannah Graber – 7 points, 5 aces, 2 kills, 4 digs, 13 set assists

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

GAME TWO

East Central – 17  15  11  x  x

VUVB (2-0, 1-0) – 25  25  25  x  x

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Josephine Mulligan – 1 point, 1 ace, 2 digs, 10 set assists

Audrey Buis – 5 points, 4 kills, 1 solo block

Lara Gomes de Castro – 6 digs

Morgan Netcott – 1 point, 1 ace, 12 digs, 3 set assists

Paige Parlanti – 15.5 points, 2 aces, 13 kills, 1 block assist, 9 digs

Alexis Chrappa – 4.5 points, 4 kills, 1 block assist, 9 digs, 1 set assist

Kennedy Sowell – 4 points, 3 kills, 2 block assists

Tuana Turhan – 5.5 points, 3 kills, 1 solo block, 3 block assists, 1 dig

Hannah Graber – 4 points, 2 aces, 2 kills, 14 digs, 15 set assists

Malgorzata Banasiak – 5.5 points, 4 kills, 3 block assists, 1 set assist