Trailblazers close out weekend tournament with pair of sweeps

PERRYSBURG, Ohio – The Vincennes University Trailblazer volleyball team head home after weekend Owens CC Tournament in style after sweeping the College of Lake County 25-16, 25-19, 25-23 and Glen Oaks 25-13, 25-10, 25-22.

Vincennes got off to a slow start after a late night Friday forced them to return to the Owens CC floor less than 12 hours after their last Friday match.

The Trailblazers used a 5-0 scoring run to grab a 10-7 lead and never looked back. VU closed out the set with an 8-0 scoring run to take set one 25-16 over the College of Lake County.

VU rode this momentum into the second set, growing a 10-5 lead before the Lancers rallied back to take the lead with a 6-0 run of their own.

The Blazers answered back again to take a late seven-point lead, before holding on to take set two 25-19.

Set three was more of a battle for Vincennes, with VU utilizing four separate 4-0 scoring runs to take set three and complete the sweep going the distance 25-23.

VU was led offensively in the first match of the day by freshman Paige Parlanti (Las Vegas, Nev.) who just missed another double-double with 11 kills and nine digs.

Freshman Audrey Buis (Franklin, Ind.) also just missed out on a double-double with eight kills, nine digs and two block assists.

Freshman Alexis Chrappa (Effingham, Ill.) ended the opening game of the day with seven kills, four digs and three block assists.

Freshmen Kennedy Sowell (Effingham, Ill.), Tuana Turhan (Ankara, Turkey) and sophomore Hannah Graber (Montgomery, Ind.) each recorded two kills each.

Sowell added a block assist and a dig, while Turhan had a big day at the net defensively with a solo block, seven block assists with one dig and one ace.

Graber ran the offense well from her setter position to 17 set assists, seven digs and an ace.

Sophomores Kaley Roush (Shoals, Ind.) and Malgorzata Banasiak (Gdynia, Poland) and freshman Maecy Johnson (Chrisman, Ill.) rounded out the VU offense with one kill each.

Banasiak ended with four block assists and Johnson ran as a second setter to 17 set assists and two digs.

Sophomore defensive specialist Lara Gomes de Castro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) led the Blazers with 10 digs.

Freshman libero Morgan Netcott (Montague, Mich.) finished with nine digs, a pair of aces and a set assist.

"As you can imagine, we were very tired heading into the Lake County game," VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. "It was a short night; it wasn't even 12 hours before we had to come back to the gym. So it was pretty ragged there for a little bit. Those are just the situations that can hopefully build some great character that despite everything that has hit you mentally, physically and emotionally, because it was a very emotional match against Muskegon last night."

"Lake County wasn't a bad team," Sien added. "They gave us some trouble at times and served tough. We just needed to make fewer errors. It always comes back to the errors and taking care of the ball. This was just something that we had to muddle our way through today."

Vincennes then had a long lay-off before returning to the floor for the final match of the weekend, when VU faced off against Glen Oaks College.

VU set the tone early against the Vikings, with Tuana Turhan leading the Blazers on an 8-0 scoring run to take a commanding 17-6 lead in the opening set.

Glen Oaks attempted to close the margin but were unable to get back into the set with VU taking set one 25-13.

Vincennes claimed a firm control of the match in the second set, closing out the set on a very impressive 16-3 scoring run to take set two 25-10 and take a 2-0 match lead.

Much like in their first match of the day, completing the sweep was more of a challenge, with Glen Oaks holding their own throughout the set.

Vincennes was able to grow a four-point lead late in the set and managed to hold on to take the set 25-22 and close out the two-day weekend tournament with a 3-1 overall record.

Paige Parlanti paced the VU offense again against Glen Oaks, finishing with team-highs of 11 kills and 13 digs for another double-double.

Alexis Chrappa closed out her weekend with eight kills, six digs, one solo block and a block assist.

Audrey Buis and Hannah Graber each recorded six kills, with Buis adding three digs and one set assist and Graber finishing with 19 set assists and one dig.

Tuana Turhan had five kills on seven attempts and zero errors, for a very impressive .714 hitting percentage, while also adding a pair of aces and digs and a block assist.

Malgorzata Banasiak ended the last match of the day with three kills, three block assists and one dig.

Kennedy Sowell rounds out the VU offense with a pair of kills to go along with a pair of block assists, two digs, a solo block and a set assist.

Maecy Johnson ended the sweep with 17 set assists and five digs, while Morgan Netcott added 10 digs and Lara Gomes de Castro finished with four digs, a pair of aces and a set assist.

"It was good to have a two-match break in between games today," Sien said. "I felt like we definitely needed it to rest up and get some food."

"We haven't played Glen Oaks in a while," Sien added. "But they are usually a pretty good team. We were able to do a little bit of scouting before our match with them. They looked like they have some strengths out there, but most teams don't face anything like our blocking and our tough serves. We were pretty well on in both of those aspects throughout the first set and the second set."

"I do know that we let down in the third set and weren't as aggressive," Sien said. "Anytime you are not on your game, someone on the other side of the net will be. We were literally running on fumes in that third set but we were able to win that set, win the match and head home."

VU will return to the home floor of the P.E. Complex next weekend when the Trailblazers host the Blazer Classic Friday Sept. 9 and Saturday, Sept. 10.

Vincennes will host Mineral Area College Friday Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. eastern and finish against Ancilla College Saturday, Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. eastern.

"It was definitely disappointing to not come out of this weekend 4-0," Sien said. "But Richard Bland was a good team and they played us tough, just a good part of it was still on us. We started out great, we just didn't finish great."

"RBC came back today and beat Parkland who is the third-ranked team in Division II," Sien added. "And Richard Bland is probably going to be ranked No. 1 or 2 in next week's poll. We now have to turn around and have another team to look forward too that are going to be better than Richard Bland in Mineral Area."

"Hopefully we are able to take something away from these matches this weekend and learn something about ourselves individually and as a team," Sien said. "This entire weekend was definitely a good learning experience. It was great team-bonding and great to see some of the athletes' families make the trip to show their support. That's always a great thing to have. I'm just as happy seeing that as I am with any result we had throughout the tournament."

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

College of Lake County – 16   19   23   x   x

VUVB (8-1, 4-0) – 25   25   25   x    x

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Kaley Roush – 1 point, 1 kill

Audrey Buis – 9 points, 8 kills, 2 block assists, 9 digs

Lara Gomes de Castro – 10 digs

Morgan Netcott – 2 points, 2 aces, 9 digs, 1 set assist

Paige Parlanti – 11 points, 11 kills, 9 digs

Alexis Chrappa – 8.5 points, 7 kills, 3 block assists, 4 digs

Maecy Johnson – 1 point, 1 kill, 2 digs, 17 set assists

Kennedy Sowell – 2.5 points, 2 kills, 1 block assist, 1 dig

Tuana Turhan – 7.5 points, 1 ace, 2 kills, 1 solo block, 7 block assists, 1 dig

Hannah Graber – 3 points, 1 ace, 2 kills, 7 digs, 17 set assists

Malgorzata Banasiak – 3 points, 1 kill, 4 block assists

GAME TWO

Glen Oaks – 13    10    22    x    x

VUVB (9-1, 4-0) – 25   25   25   x    x

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Audrey Buis – 6 points, 6 kills, 3 digs, 1 set assist

Lara Gomes de Castro – 2 points, 2 aces, 4 digs, 1 set assist

Morgan Netcott – 10 digs

Paige Parlanti – 11 points, 11 kills, 13 digs

Alexis Chrappa – 9.5 points, 8 kills, 1 solo block, 1 block assist, 6 digs

Maecy Johnson – 5 digs, 17 set assists

Kennedy Sowell – 4 points, 2 kills, 1 solo block, 2 block assists, 2 digs, 1 set assist

Tuana Turhan – 7.5 points, 2 aces, 5 kills, 1 block assist, 2 digs

Hannah Graber – 6 points, 6 kills, 1 dig, 19 set assists

Malgorzata Banasiak – 4.5 points, 3 kills, 3 block assists, 1 dig