Vincennes closes out tough Region 24 week with road sweep at Lake Land College

MATTOON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer volleyball team closed out a tough week of games Friday night with their third Region 24 victory in just four day beating host Lake Land 25-20, 25-16, 25-21.

VU closed out the week with three Region 24 victories, putting their season record at 8-0 in Region 24 play and extending their Region 24 winning streak to 20 matches.

Set one began as a battle. The Lakers were playing shorthanded and that caused the Blazers to have to adjust on the fly.

Vincennes did take control of the set with a 9-2 scoring run and held off host Lake Land to grab set one 25-20.

VU continued this hot start into set two, scoring seven of the first eight points of the set and taking a nine-point lead at 17-8.

The Trailblazers would hold on to this lead to take set two 25-16 and take a commanding 2-0 match lead.

Vincennes used a 6-0 scoring run in set three to take a 16-6 lead at the midway point, which allowed Head Coach Gary Sien to empty his bench and get all of his players some time on the court.

Lake Land looked to mount a comeback and did manage to chip away at the lead, but VU ultimately held out and took set three 25-21 and completed the sweep.

"I said before the game that (Lake Land missing players) was the worst thing that could happen to us," VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. "I think our team is better off playing against a full team. There were a few times where we just let up and the ending of the third set was a little touch-and-go for a second."

"It just comes down to our mindset and our serve receive," Sien added. "With Lake Land missing a couple of their big hitter, it was probably close to 80-percent of their offense, the only things they could really do was keep the ball in play, tip it and serve tough. They really served us pretty tough tonight."

"I'll take away the positives from tonight too," Sien said. "We got the match done in three. We did manage to get everyone in the match, which is always difficult to do with the level of competition we play. We won all three of our matches this week. We'll have two days off, which we really need as we are starting our third month of play. Everyone is a bit tired, with bumps and bruises. My hope with these two days off is that we can get back to 100-percent as we start looking at the end of our regular season and get closer to the Region Tournament."

The Trailblazers were led offensively by another double-double performance from freshman Paige Parlanti (Las Vegas, Nev.). Parlanti led the Blazers with 12 kills and 25 digs, while also adding a pair of blocks and two aces.

Sophomore Malgorzata Banasiak (Gdynia, Poland) reached double-figure kills, ending with 10 kills and one block on the night.

Freshmen Audrey Buis (Franklin, Ind.), Tuana Turhan (Ankara, Turkey) and Alexis Chrappa (Effingham, Ill.) came through with solid nights offensively. Buis finished with eight kills, eight digs and two blocks. Turhan added six kills, five blocks and two digs and Chrappa finished with five kills, four digs and a block.

Freshman Nisa Salis (Ankara, Turkey) added a pair of kills, three blocks and a dig to her totals.

Sophomore setters Josephine Mulligan (Saint John, Ind.) and Hannah Graber (Montgomery, Ind.) rounded out the VU offense with one kill each.

Mulligan picked up a double-double on the night with a team-high 24 set assists and 17 digs, while Graber just missed a double-double with 13 set assists, nine digs and two aces.

Freshman libero Morgan Netcott (Montague, Mich.) and Lara Gomes de Castro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) anchored the VU backrow defense with Netcott finishing with 22 digs, three set assists and an ace and Gomes de Castro finishing with seven digs and an ace.

Freshmen Maecy Johnson (Chrisman, Ill.) and Kennedy Sowell (Effingham, Ill.) and sophomore Kaley Roush (Shoals, Ind.) entered the game in the third set, with Johnson and Sowell recording a dig each and Roush adding one block.

"It was good for Alexis and Kennedy to get an opportunity to play in front of some of their home fans again," Sien said. "It was also a fun night for us as well, because we had some of our alumni in attendance as well. With 2021 Region 24 Player of the Year Grace Earp, Kacee Nicholson and Allyson Kuhl all there to support us. It's always nice for us to go to Lake Land because we have so many players, past and present from the area."

"We've been very successful in the past recruiting the Mattoon area," Sien added. "Whether some people like it or not, Mattoon is kind of like a second home for us."

VU will be on the road to begin next week, traveling to Robinson, Ill. to face off against Lincoln Trail College Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. eastern.

The Trailblazers will then return home to host the Showdown on the Wabash Friday, Oct. 7 and Saturday, Oct. 8.

VU will host Edison State at 3 p.m. and Snead State at 7 p.m. eastern on Friday, before closing out the weekend against Chattanooga State at 10 a.m. eastern and St. Louis Community College at 2 p.m. eastern Saturday.

"The nice thing about next week is that we should have more than one practice," Sien said. "It's great that we had a shorter week this week with a day-off, but when you play two matches back-to-back and you are not able to get that practice time in between, it could have potentially made a big difference in these matches."

"Another nice thing about next week is that Lincoln Trail isn't that far away," Sien added. "It's almost like a home game with the short travel distance over to Robinson. Then playing four matches at home over the weekend, which might be our longest home stand in three years. That's a nice thing to have to look forward too and hopefully another sign of things becoming more normal again."

"It will also be some good competition for us," Sien said. "We will be able to get a couple of practices under us and be able to take the things that we've learned, really since the Alabama trip and this week with three really tough Region 24 matches, two of which being on the road."

"The thing with this young group is that they have really been tested this year," Sien added. "We haven't had that many home matches, so to be able to pull through to this point, we've done pretty well. Playing at home next weekend will really help us. Being able to see family and friends, sleep in their own beds, getting to see something other than the inside of a bus. Sometimes when people think about playing in college at this level, they just think about how great it is to travel, which it is, however, it is still a challenge. You have to be ready for it because it takes a completely different mindset staying in hotels and being on long bus rides."

"I just thought if we could have a good end to this week and a good end to September, with all the things that have happened this month, I think overall we've done pretty well," Sien said. "I challenge any team, I don't care how many sophomores they have, to go through our schedule. Because it is pretty tough. I'm definitely proud of the way this team has played so far."

BOX SCORE

Lake Land – 20    16   21    x    x

VUVB (19-5, 8-0) – 25   25   25   x   x

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Kaley Roush – 0.5 points, 1 block assist

Josephine Mulligan – 1 point, 1 kill, 17 digs, 24 set assists

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

Lara Gomes de Castro – 1 point, 1 ace, 7 digs

Morgan Netcott – 1 point, 1 ace, 22 digs, 3 set assists

Paige Parlanti – 15 points, 2 aces, 12 kills, 2 block assists, 25 digs

Alexis Chrappa – 5.5 points, 5 kills, 1 block assist, 4 digs

Nisa Salis – 3.5 points, 2 kills, 3 block assists, 1 dig

Maecy Johnson – 1 dig

Kennedy Sowell – 1 dig

Tuana Turhan – 9 points, 6 kills, 1 solo block, 4 block assists, 2 digs

Hannah Graber – 3 points, 2 aces, 1 kill, 9 digs, 13 set assists

Malgorzata Banasiak – 10.5 points, 10 kills, 1 block assist