Trailblazers sweep pair of games on final day of Wallace State Fall Bash

HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The Vincennes University volleyball team closed out their weekend down at the Wallace State C.C. Fall Bash Saturday morning with a pair of sweeps.

The Trailblazers got going early and took down Walters State C.C. 25-19, 25-16, 25-13 before immediately turning around and defeating Chattanooga State C.C. 25-7, 25-21, 25-15.

Vincennes got off to a hot start to the morning, playing nearly 12 hours after their last match Friday night, jumping out to a big lead over Walters State on the back of a 5-0 scoring run by freshman libero Morgan Netcott (Montague, Mich.) and a 9-0 scoring run by freshman Tuana Turhan (Ankara, Turkey).

Walters State would go on a rally of their own, answering back with a 9-0 scoring run of their own to cut the deficit to just five points.

VU would right the ship however as the Trailblazers came away with the first set victory 25-19.

Vincennes fell behind early in the second set, trailing 12-10 before a 4-0 scoring run by sophomore Lara Gomes de Castro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) gave the Blazers the lead.

The Trailblazers would expand on this lead with an 8-0 scoring run by sophomore Hannah Graber (Montgomery, Ind.) as VU pulled away to take the second set 25-16.

Vincennes would put the match away in the third set after a 6-0 scoring run by Morgan Netcott gave the Blazers an 18-9 advantage. VU would hold on to take the set and complete the sweep 25-13.

"We were ahead by quite a bit in the first set," VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. "We obviously had some serve receive problems later in that set which made us have to really earn it in the end. I said at the end of the first set that Walters State really did us a favor because I don't think it would have done us any good to beat them 25-8 or somewhere around there."

"I feel like that kind of woke us up a little bit," Sien added. "It was kind of like what happened against John A. Logan Wednesday. We had a big lead there too. We just have to learn how to play from beginning to end. That happens to us at times, where I don't think we are really mindful of the fact that we haven't won anything yet."

"Walters State is one of the better Division II programs in the South, so if you let them, they can score and give us a lot of trouble out there," Sien said. "I think that in both matches today we really got our blocking up and really took control of the net. I thought we were a little more in system and able to run our offense against Walters State."

The Trailblazers were led offensively by freshman Paige Parlanti (Las Vegas, Nev.) who finished with a team-high 16 kills and seven digs against Walters State.

Freshmen Kennedy Sowell (Effingham, Ill.) and Audrey Buis (Franklin, Ind.) were next with Sowell adding six kills and a dig and Buis finishing with four kills, three digs and a pair of blocks.

Freshmen Alexis Chrappa (Effingham, Ill.) and Maecy Johnson (Chrisman, Ill.) each finished with three kills, with the pair also recording a block each and Johnson finishing with three digs to Chrappa's two digs.

Sophomore Kaley Roush (Shoals, Ind.) and freshman Tuana Turhan round out the VU offense, each recording a kill, with Turhan ending with six digs, three blocks and three aces as well.

Sophomore setters Hannah Graber and Josephine Mulligan (Saint John, Ind.) ran the VU offense well, with Graber leading the way with 17 set assists and four digs, with Mulligan adding 15 set assists and four digs.

Defensively the Trailblazers were led by freshman Morgan Netcott who finished with a team-high 17 digs, three aces and two set assists. With sophomore Lara Gomes de Castro ending with nine digs, and a pair of aces.

The Trailblazers had to immediately turn their focus to their final opponent of the weekend NJCAA Division II No. 17-ranked Chattanooga State.

Vincennes hit the floor running in their second match of the day, pulling away early and building another commanding first set lead of 20-5.

VU would keep their foot down against the Tigers as VU cruised to a first set win 25-7.

Set two would be more of a battle however, as Chattanooga State responded back. The two teams traded points in the early stages of the set, before VU grabbed a 19-13 lead.

The Tigers would answer back again to cut the deficit to just a single point but were unable to take the lead from the Blazers as VU came away with the 25-21 set two victory.

VU looked to complete their second sweep of the day in the third set but had to battle with both teams trading scoring runs before the Blazers closed out the match scoring 12 of the final 14 points to win set three 25-15.

"This was Chattanooga State's first match of the day, so I felt like we had a big advantage early on, having already been on the court for about two hours to that point," Sien said. "Chattanooga State is a good team. They have three pretty consistent hitters. I thought we were able to stop two of the three or a different two each set."

"I thought we controlled the net very well," Sien added. "We ended with 20 blocks. Chattanooga State was at least a team that would go for the kill and not tip the ball as much and when a team does that to us, we usually do pretty well."

VU was led again against Chattanooga State by freshman Paige Parlanti who recorded her 12th double-double of the season, finishing with 11 kills, 13 digs and three blocks.

Audrey Buis and Alexis Chrappa also had strong showing against the Tigers, with Buis finishing with seven kills, four blocks and three digs and Chrappa recording four kills, four digs and three blocks.

Hannah Graber put away three kills in the match, while also leading VU with 13 set assists, four digs and an ace.

Tuana Turhan, Maecy Johnson and Morgan Netcott round out the VU offense with Turhan finishing with two kills, while leading the team with nine blocks, two set assists, three aces and a dig.

Johnson recorded one kill, while Netcott also recorded one kill and eight digs.

Josephine Mulligan ran the VU offense, finishing with nine set assists, two digs and an ace, while Kennedy Sowell and Lara Gomes de Castro also contributed with Sowell recording a block and Gomes de Castro ending with one dig.

The Trailblazers now face a challenging week ahead full of Region 24 matches, starting Tuesday, Sept. 27 when VU travels to Kaskaskia College in Centralia, Ill. at 7 p.m. eastern.

Vincennes will then host Wabash Valley College Thursday, Sept. 29 also at 7 p.m. eastern, before closing out the week Friday, Sept. 30 at Lake Land College in Mattoon, Ill at 7 p.m. eastern.

"I really feel like we grew as a team out there this weekend," Sien said. "We definitely got a more consistent effort on the floor. I thought we were really able to see what our team is capable of and how deep our team is because we were missing a few players and played a tough schedule. Not only tough in the teams that we faced, but also the schedule of playing four matches in less than 24 hours. That's a challenge for anybody."

"I really liked how Josephine was able to play really well after being out for two weeks," Sien added. "It's tough to come back as a setter because you have to try to develop that timing with our hitters. I thought she did a really nice job this weekend. Similar thing with Maecy as well. We haven't had her hit or block much this season but she did a pretty nice job this weekend. Especially with our style of blocking, if it's something you've never done before, it's like you are being told after every play how to do it and she did a really nice job of making those adjustments."

"I thought we really just played together this weekend," Sien said. "It wasn't pretty at times, but we really held it together. There wasn't really a moment in the four matches where we got too down on ourselves or each other. That's really important in this game. It can be a frustrating sport at times and I really just want to give credit to the team for having a great attitude and mentality during the entire weekend. It was like nothing was going to phase us and for such a young group, that says a lot."

"I think we learned a lot this weekend and my hope is that we will carry that through to this week of matches and for the rest of the year," Sien added. "There is no reason why we can't go on a long run with our abilities and potential from now to the end of the season. We've got a few more tough matches, but with where we are now, if we play together, we are going to come out on top."

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

Walters State – 19   16   13   x   x

VUVB (15-5, 5-0) –   25   25   25   x   x

INDIVIDUAL STATS

 Kaley Roush – 1 point, 1 kill

Josephine Mulligan – 4 digs, 15 set assists

Audrey Buis – 5 points, 4 kills, 2 block assists, 3 digs

Lara Gomes de Castro – 2 points, 2 aces, 9 digs

Morgan Netcott – 3 points, 3 aces, 17 digs, 2 set assists

Paige Parlanti – 16 points, 16 kills, 7 digs

Alexis Chrappa – 3.5 points, 3 kills, 1 block assist, 2 digs

Maecy Johnson – 3.5 points, 3 kills, 1 block assist, 3 digs

Kennedy Sowell – 6 points, 6 kills, 1 dig

Tuana Turhan – 5.5 points, 3 aces, 1 kill, 3 block assists, 6 digs

Hannah Graber – 4 digs, 17 set assists

GAME TWO

Chattanooga State – 7   21   15   x   x

VUVB (16-5, 5-0) – 25   25    25   x   x

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Josephine Mulligan – 1 point, 1 ace, 2 digs, 9 set assists

Audrey Buis – 9 points, 7 kills, 4 block assists, 3 digs

Lara Gomes de Castro – 1 dig

Morgan Netcott – 1 point, 1 kill, 8 digs

Paige Parlanti – 12.5 points, 11 kills, 3 block assists, 13 digs

Alexis Chrappa – 5.5 points, 4 kills, 3 block assists, 4 digs

Maecy Johnson – 1 point, 1 kill

Kennedy Sowell – 0.5 points, 1 block assists

Tuana Turhan – 9.5 points, 3 aces, 2 kills, 9 block assists, 1 dig, 2 set assists

Hannah Graber – 4 points, 1 ace, 3 kills, 4 digs, 13 set assists