Two-time Region 24 Player of the Year Paige Parlanti earns All-American honors

VINCENNES, Ind. – The list of accomplishments and honors continues to pour in for the reigning two-time Region 24 Player of the Year Paige Parlanti (Las Vegas, Nev.).

The Trailblazer sophomore earned 2023 NJCAA Division I Second Team All-American honors Tuesday afternoon.

"It is a huge honor to be named a Second Team All-American among so many talented athletes," Parlanti said. "It was a goal of mine this year and I am excited to achieve this goal. It shows that my competitive nature, drive and passion for the sport has not gone unnoticed. I want to thank all of the coaches that have challenged me, pushed me past my limits, believed in me and taught me that every ball is playable. I know I still have more growth in me as a player and I look forward to playing at the next level."

"Definitely getting a player and a person like Paige was a big signing for us," VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. "For one, because of her location. We typically cannot get many students from outside of the Midwest, let alone somebody from way out west in Las Vegas. The odds of getting somebody from there, at first, we knew was going to be a challenge."

"But one thing about Paige is that she puts her academics and her education first," Sien added. "That's how she found us because we have a very exceptional Fire Science program at VU. She contacted us very early in her senior year of high school. We looked at her film and knew she was a really nice player, but thought the odds were against us of signing her. But she was very serious about VU and came on a visit and once she got on campus, she basically decided to commit here not long after."

"I knew at that point that we were signing someone that was not only going to be an exceptional player, but also an exceptional person," Sien said. "I knew that if she reaches her potential, she is going to be an All-American before she leaves VU and she is definitely someone who realized their potential both in the classroom and on the volleyball court."

"For her to have the year that she did a year ago, almost coming out of no where and putting up big numbers, she probably should have been recognized as an All-American last year as well," Sien added. "But for her to come back and have an even better year this year, when the whole world knows about you. Every game and set you are targeted. It literally felt like she had three or four blockers following her wherever she went. I think that goes beyond having high-level skills, it goes back to her upbringing and how she was brought up, the coaching she had prior to coming here. There is definitely a large sense of inner toughness to bare what she did this year."

"She also showed the type of leadership she has and the type of leader she is this year," Sien said. "Whenever any coach in any sport says that the player loves the sport, it might be just words. But here is someone that I know, Paige Parlanti loves the sport of volleyball. You can always tell when she steps onto the court that she loves volleyball. I'll take 12 athletes like that any day. She never takes any practice or games for granted. That's the thing that I think separates her from someone else who might have the same level of skills. Her love of the game, intensity and focus, all of those things that you just can't coach."

"On the numbers side, for her to get 1,000 kills," Sien added. "If that were easy everybody would be getting 1,000 kills in two years. That's just not done too often at any level. As a coach that has seen many players and has been blessed to coach many good players both men and women, blessed with a lot of success, Paige foremost steps forward as one of the best players that I've ever had. Whether it's men's or women's at any level that I've coached and that says a lot because I've also been blessed to coach a number of other All-Americans."

"But hitting is also not all that Paige can do either, she also almost had 1,000 digs in her career," Sien said. "She is really good in the back row as well. She really puts her all into playing the back row, diving and trying to get to every ball she can and she doesn't really have to do that. That's just part of her as a player. She plays defense from corner to corner as a middle back, she has had games where she will go flying into the benches to go after a ball. That part of the game impresses me more than someone hitting the ball 1,000 miles per hour because playing defense, in any sport at any level, it's all heart. That part of her game really, for me, shows her passion and her heart that she plays with. When some athletes would have just taken it easy in the back row and saved their energy for the front row, there's none of that with her."

Parlanti is coming off of another very impressive season for the Trailblazers, where she led VU with 514 kills, 408 digs, 73 blocks and 46 aces.

Parlanti also finished second in the Nation this past season in kills per set at 4.36 and points per set at 5.1, while also finishing fourth in total points with 603.5 and fifth in the country in kills with 514.

Parlanti closed out her Trailblazer career with 1,049 kills, 946 digs, 141 blocks and 105 aces, becoming the first VU hitter in the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present) to reach the 1,000 kill milestone.

Parlanti helped guide the Trailblazers to a 32-7 record this past season, the most wins in program history since moving to the NJCAA Division I level, VU's third-straight undefeated Region 24 Championship and the reached the NJCAA Midwest District A Championship game for the first time since moving to the NJCAA Division I level.

Parlanti, along with her sophomore class, finished their two years at Vincennes with a combined record of 61-16, with a 26-0 record against Region 24 opponents and helped the Trailblazers reach their highest NJCAA Division I National ranking in program history, being ranked No. 18 this past season.

Parlanti recorded 21 double-doubles during the 2023 season, including setting season-highs with 28 kills and 33 digs at Jefferson College in August, which helped Parlanti earn NJCAA Division I Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Parlanti is the first VU Volleyball All-American since moving to the NJCAA Division I level in 2016 and fifth Volleyball All-American overall, joining Marianne Tobolski (1986), Jennifer Wirtz (2004), Kayla Holloway (2005) and Audrey Curry (2006).

"To be one of five volleyball players to receive All-American honors at Vincennes University is a huge accomplishment for me and exciting for the growth of the program," Parlanti added. "I am honored to represent VU as one of those athletes and a role model for upcoming and new volleyball athletes. I am excited to be the first athlete in the VUVB Division I program history to receive this honor and I want future players to know anything is possible with some hard work and dedication."

"I believe this honor will help the VUVB volleyball program grow," Parlanti said. "I played with some amazing teammates this year that are very athletic and I know that they are capable of receiving this honor next year. With receiving this honor, my teammates know that it is possible. All they have to do is believe in themselves, push and challenge themselves and each other every time they step onto the court. I hope this award sets a new standard for future athletes at VU to set goals and strive for the best."

"Of course it helps to have great team success, we went through a whole list of accomplishments this season but having Paige on this team really helped take us to the next level," Sien said. "We are getting invitations from Top-10 teams to play, which we have never gotten before. We've even had a few that specifically said, 'We want you', not just some generic email that gets sent out to 100 schools. They specifically say, 'We want Vincennes University to come to our tournament' and we've also had other schools ask about our tournaments as well. You suddenly get noticed that way."

"One of the emails just said, 'We want a Top-20 team to come play at our tournament and that's you, Vincennes University'," Sien added. "I cannot think of a better team recognition out there than to have those invitations. We were getting a few before this past season, but now that the season's over, we're getting a lot more invitations. That really says a lot that the other schools that have had decades of success are seeing that Vincennes University is getting closer to them."

"When you have both individuals and then you have such a good season, the NJCAA volleyball world and maybe the volleyball world period is going to know about you," Sien said. "Recruiting for us has always been good. But right after the District tournament, I got around two dozen emails of athletes from 2024 all the way up to 2027 asking to be a part of our program and sending videos. Those are the rewards of having this type of success in your program, both as a team and of course, at the individual level."

The Vincennes University Athletic Department would like to congratulate Paige Parlanti on a great season and another outstanding honor.