Trailblazers open weekend tournament with pair of wins at Wallace State Fall Bash

HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The Vincennes University volleyball team had an excellent start to the weekend slate Friday night, winning over NJCAA Division II No. 12 Enterprise State C.C. 25-27, 26-24, 25-16, 25-22 before closing out the night against Snead State C.C. 25-19, 28-26, 25-14 at the 2024 Wallace State C.C. Fall Bash.

Vincennes opened their weekend against a very tough, nationally ranked Enterprise State team from Enterprise, Ala.

VU was able to rebound after dropping the first set to the Boll Weevils and close out the match in four sets 25-27, 26-24, 25-16, 25-22.

Sophomore Isadora Dias (Rio Grande de Norte, Brazil) led the way for the Blazers offensively with 14 kills, nine digs, two blocks and a pair of aces.

Sophomores Laura Tavares (Merida, Venezuela) and Elisa Dalla Pozza (Vincenza, Italy) followed this lead with seven kills each, with Tavares adding three blocks, two digs and an ace, while Dalla Pozza shined defensively with a team-high seven blocks to go along with two aces and one dig.

Freshmen Martyna Sadowska (Pila, Poland) and Paulina Fister (Tuszyn, Poland) also had big games for the Blue and Gold with Sadowska adding five kills, six blocks and one dig and Fister recording four kills, 12 digs and one block.

Sophomore setter Libby Mehringer (Jasper, Ind.) continues to control the VU offense with 18 set assists, six digs and three kills, while fellow sophomore setter Dylan DeCoursey (Montgomery, Ind.) added 13 set assists and seven digs.

Sophomore Allison Czyzewski (Louisville, Ill.) got in on the block party at the net in the first match of the day with three blocks and one dig.

Sophomore libero Grace Flexter (Oblong, Ill.) controlled the VU back row defense with a team-high 15 digs and six set assists.

Freshman Karen Kodi (West Carrollton, Ohio) rounded out the VU box score, recording one dig on the night.

"What a big win for us and what a big comeback," VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. "We had a very hard time stopping their middle, so we put Laura in there to block. Talk about a game changer. They were not as effective attacking there as before."

"Our serving game was effective in taking their middle attack out as well and the block picked up too," Sien added. "After a slow start, our offense kick in and found ways to put the ball on the floor."

The Blazers then had to immediately turn their attentions to their next opponent in Snead State Community College from Boaz, Ala.

Vincennes was able to break away first in the opening set with a 5-0 scoring run before Snead State answered back to even the match at 11-11.

VU would look to pull ahead later in the first set with six unanswered and were able to hold on to take set one over the Parsons 25-19 and gain a 1-0 match lead.

Set two got off to a tough start for the Blazers, with Snead State seemingly in full control after an 11-0 scoring run put them ahead 17-7.

Vincennes would not give up however as they slowly chipped away at this deficit, taking the lead at 25-24 and sending this set into overtime, where the Blazers would complete the comeback to take set two 28-26 to lead the match 2-0.

The Trailblazers continued to ride this momentum into set three, scoring the first six points of the set and later using a pair of 4-0 runs to build a 17-10 advantage.

Vincennes would put the match away in the third set, pulling away late to close out the night 25-14 and completing the sweep over Snead State.

VU was again led offensively by the sophomore duo of Isadora Dias and Laura Tavares, who each finished with 16 kills.

Tavares would add three blocks and two digs to her totals, while Dias finished her night with eight digs, two set assists and two aces.

Allison Czyzewski came away with three kills, three blocks and a pair of digs, while Elisa Dalla Pozza and Paulina Fister each recorded two kills in the match. Fister added six digs, while Dalla Pozza ended with one block and one set assist.

Martyna Sadowska rounded out the VU offensive numbers with one kill and one block.

Libby Mehringer again controlled the VU offense from the setter position, filling up the stats sheet with 24 set assists, four kills, two aces, two digs and one block.

Dylan DeCoursey also helped spread out the VU offensive attack with 11 set assists, seven digs and one ace.

Grace Flexter led the VU defense with a team-high 17 digs and five set assists, while freshman Brooklyn Summers (Loogootee, Ind.) closed out the first set in style with an ace.

"Snead State is a long, athletic team but the idea there was to always serve tough and block strong," Sien said. "Not an easy thing in every match, but we were next level in those parts meaning we kept scoring. The level of execution in the offense was extremely good as well, as we hit over .400 percent for the match."

The Trailblazers will look to carry this hot streak into their final two matches of the 2024 Wallace State C.C. Fall Bash Saturday, Sept. 21.

Vincennes will close out the weekend slate against host Wallace State C.C. at 10 a.m. eastern, before facing Lawson State Community College at 2 p.m. eastern.

"We were focused throughout all the matches today," Sien added. "The team was able to turn around all the negatives and they were picking each other up. They turned it around in both matches and they would lose those two matches if they did not. We need all of those things for Saturday."

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

Enterprise State – 27   24   16   22   x

VUVB (11-4, 6-0) – 25   26   25   25   x

VINCENNES STATS

Grace Flexter – 15 digs, 6 set assists

Paulina Fister – 4.5 points, 4 kills, 1 block assist, 12 digs

Dylan DeCoursey – 7 digs, 13 set assists

Laura Tavares – 9.5 points, 1 ace, 7 kills, 3 block assists, 2 digs

Isadora Dias – 17 points, 2 aces, 14 kills, 2 block assists, 9 digs

Allison Czyzewski – 1.5 points, 3 block assists, 1 dig

Martyna Sadowska – 8 points, 5 kills, 6 block assists, 1 dig

Elisa Dalla Pozza – 13 points, 2 aces, 7 kills, 1 solo block, 6 block assists, 1 dig

Karen Kodi – 1 dig

Libby Mehringer – 3 points, 3 kills, 6 digs, 18 set assists

GAME TWO

Snead State – 19   26   14   x   x

VUVB (12-4, 6-0) – 25   28   25   x   x

VINCENNES STATS

Grace Flexter – 17 digs, 5 set assists

Paulina Fister – 2 points, 2 kills, 6 digs

Dylan DeCoursey – 1 point, 1 ace, 7 digs, 11 set assists

Brooklyn Summers – 1 point, 1 ace

Laura Tavares – 18 points, 16 kills, 1 solo block, 2 block assists, 2 digs

Isadora Dias – 18 points, 2 aces, 16 kills, 8 digs, 2 set assists

Allison Czyzewski – 4.5 points, 3 kills, 3 block assists, 2 digs

Martyna Sadowska – 1.5 points, 1 kill, 1 block assist

Elisa Dalla Pozza – 2.5 points, 2 kills, 1 block assist, 1 set assist

Libby Mehringer – 6.5 points, 2 aces, 4 kills, 1 block assist, 2 digs, 24 set assists