CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Vincennes University volleyball team notched their 20th win of the season Friday night on the first day of the Parkland College Fall Challenge in Champaign, Ill.
The Blazers got off to a rough start to the weekend, falling to NJCAA Division II No. 17-ranked Illinois Central College 22-25, 23-25, 18-25 in the first match of the day, before battling back with a big comeback win over Southeastern (Iowa) Community College 23-25, 23-25, 25-12, 25-14, 16-14.
Vincennes got off to a slow start Friday afternoon against Illinois Central, quickly falling behind by four points in the opening set, before coming back to even the score at 10-10.
The Cougars would outscore VU 6-1 to build a five point advantage before Vincennes again answered back to even the score late at 21-21.
Illinois Central closed out the first set by riding a small 3-0 scoring run to take set one 25-22 and gain the early 1-0 match lead.
VU grabbed the early lead in set two, jumping out to a quick 7-3 lead over ICC.
The Cougars would slowly chip away at this VU lead, evening the score at 16-16 and taking the lead at 17-16.
The two teams would trade points back-and-forth with Illinois Central coming out ahead, taking set two going the distance 25-23 and taking a 2-0 match lead over the Blazers.
ICC rode this momentum into set three, using a big five-point scoring run to take a big 16-6 lead.
VU would not go away quietly however, outscoring the Cougars 9-1 to cut the deficit down to two points at 17-15.
This would be as close as the Blazers would get however as Illinois Central closed out the third set and the match 25-18.
"We never got into any flow or rhythm," VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. "We let ICC dictate the pace throughout the match. We had many serve receive problems, which led to a predictable offense and limited kills."
"Our blocking seemed to be slow all match," Sien added. "We got a hand on quite a few shots, but we did not complete the movement to finish the block."
The VU offense was led by freshman Isadora Dias (Rio Grande de Norte, Brazil) who finished with eight kills and four digs.
Sophomore Audrey Buis (Franklin, Ind.) returned to the lineup and made an immediate impact, ending the game with seven kills, five digs and one ace.
Freshmen Elisa Dalla Pozza (Vincenza, Italy) and Laura Tavares (Meridia, Venezuela) had big games at the net, with Dalla Pozza ending with six kills, six blocks and one dig, while Tavares added five kills, six digs and three blocks.
Sophomore Kennedy Sowell (Effingham, Ill.) and freshman Allison Czyzewski (Louisville, Ill.) rounded out the VU offense, with Sowell finishing with four kills, two digs and one block, while Czyzewski added one kill and one block.
Sophomore setter Maecy Johnson (Chrisman, Ill.) ran the VU offense and distributed the ball very well, ending with 23 set assists, four digs and one kill.
Freshman Libby Mehringer (Jasper, Ind.) ended the game with one ace, one block and one dig as well.
Sophomore libero Morgan Netcott (Montague, Mich.) led the VU defense with 20 digs and three set assists, while freshman Grace Flexter (Oblong, Ill.) added four digs.
VU looked to bounce back from the first match loss quickly as the Blazers had to immediately turn around and face Southeastern Community College from West Burlington, Iowa.
The Trailblazers battled early and broke away in the first set with five unanswered to take a 19-14 lead.
Southeastern answered back to outscore Vincennes 9-2 to take a 23-21 lead and held on after trading points to close out the set 25-23.
Vincennes again took an early lead in set two, scoring the first four points of the set, before the Blackhawks later grabbed the momentum and the lead with a 7-0 scoring run.
The SCC lead would grow to as many as five before the Blazers would cut the deficit down to one but were unable to take the lead back as Southeastern grabbed set two 25-23 and took a 2-0 match lead.
Looking to avoid the sweep, the Blazers came out in the third set firing, using several small scoring runs to build a 10-point advantage at 17-7 and closed out the set with four unanswered to take set three 25-12.
Now wanting to force a fifth set, the Blazers continued to ride the momentum of the third set into the fourth, using a 4-0 run to take a 16-8 lead.
Vincennes would use another 4-0 run and a 3-0 scoring run to take a 24-13 lead and finish out the fourth set 25-14 to force a winner-take-all fifth set.
Set five went back to the back-and-forth battle that the first two sets were, with neither team able to really separate themselves.
The set would go into overtime before the Blazers completed the comeback to take set five 16-14 and early VU's 20th win of the season.
"Southeastern was going to be a tough matchup as they took Heartland to five earlier in the day," Sien said. "We definitely did better in the first two sets, but it just didn't come our way. We played well overall but just not well enough in some crucial plays at the end of both sets."
"Some changes later in the lineup was the difference as we played more consistently and with greater confidence," Sien added. "We were in system in our offense and on task in our blocking. Our serving was a lot tougher too. The team did a great job against Southeastern after such a discouraging first match."
The VU offense was led by the freshman duo of Elisa Dalla Pozza and Laura Tavares, who each finished the night with 17 kills.
Dalla Pozza would also add team-highs with seven blocks and three aces, along with one dig and one set assist, while Tavares added six digs and one ace.
Isadora Dias completed her first career double-double Friday, ending the match with 13 kills, 15 digs and one set assist.
Kennedy Sowell added six kills and one block, while Audrey Buis and Libby Mehringer each finished with four kills. Buis would also get five digs and Mehringer would add a pair of aces and a pair of digs.
Setter Maecy Johnson put up another staggering stat line, obviously setting a new career-high Friday night with 53 set assists, while also recording a double-double with 12 digs, two kills and two aces.
Libero Morgan Netcott rounded out the VU offense with a kill to go along with a team-high 25 digs and three set assists.
Grace Flexter and freshman Dylan DeCoursey (Montgomery, Ind.) round out the VU stats sheet with Flexter recording eight digs and two aces and DeCoursey finishing with three digs and one set assist.
The Blazers will look to close out the weekend on a high note tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 30 with two big matches against NJCAA Division II Top-10 opponents, starting with a match against No. 4 Heartland Community College at 12 p.m. eastern and closing out the Parkland Challenge against No. 10-ranked Lincoln Land Community College at 4 p.m. eastern.
"We need to be more ready to play," Sien said. "You cannot have a fast start by being in an early deficit in both matches. We have not done this too often this year, so here's hoping today was an aberration."
"Lincoln Land defeated Heartland earlier in the week, so it doesn't get easier with tomorrow's two matches," Sien added.
BOX SCORE
GAME ONE
Illinois Central – 25 25 25 x x
VUVB (19-3, 8-0) – 22 23 18 x x
VINCENNES STATS
Grace Flexter – 4 digs
Audrey Buis – 8 points, 1 ace, 7 kills, 5 digs
Morgan Netcott – 20 digs, 3 set assists
Isadora Dias – 8 points, 8 kills, 4 digs
Allison Czyzewski – 1.5 points, 1 kill, 1 block assist
Maecy Johnson – 1 point, 1 kill, 4 digs, 23 set assists
Kennedy Sowell – 4.5 points, 4 kills, 1 block assist, 2 digs
Elisa Dalla Pozza – 9 points, 6 kills, 6 block assists, 1 dig
Laura Tavares – 6.5 points, 5 kills, 3 block assists, 6 digs
Libby Mehringer – 1 point, 1 block assist, 1 dig
GAME TWO
Southeastern – 25 25 12 14 14
VUVB (20-3, 8-0) – 23 23 25 25 16
VINCENNES STATS
Grace Flexter – 2 points, 2 aces, 8 digs
Audrey Buis – 4 points, 4 kills, 5 digs
Dylan DeCoursey – 3 digs, 1 set assist
Morgan Netcott – 1 point, 1 kill, 25 digs, 3 set assists
Isadora Dias – 13 points, 13 kills, 15 digs, 1 set assist
Maecy Johnson – 4 points, 2 aces, 2 kills, 12 digs, 53 set assists
Kennedy Sowell – 6.5 points, 6 kills, 1 block assist
Elisa Dalla Pozza – 24.5 points, 3 aces, 17 kills, 2 solo blocks, 5 block assists, 1 dig, 1 set assist
Laura Tavares – 18 points, 1 ace, 17 kills, 6 digs
Libby Mehringer – 6 points, 2 aces, 4 kills, 2 digs