VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University volleyball team faced another tough Region 24 match Thursday night in the Physical Education Complex, their second of three Region matches this week.
The Blazers came away with a hard-fought four-set victory over John A. Logan College 25-12, 25-21, 18-25, 27-25 to increase their winning streak over Region 24 opponents to 35 matches.
Vincennes got off to an excellent start on their home floor Thursday night, jumping out to an early five point lead in set one and later using a massive 13-1 scoring run to take a commanding 24-9 advantage over the Volunteers.
John A. Logan would look to rally back after facing set point but were not able to overcome the deficit as VU grabbed set one over the Vols 25-12 to take the early 1-0 match lead.
Set two was more of a back-and-forth battle one would expect in a match featuring the current top two teams in Region 24.
Vincennes grabbed the upper hand with a 12-9 lead and were able to hang on to that lead after trading points with the Volunteers throughout most of the set.
VU took set two 25-21 and earned a 2-0 match lead over John A. Logan.
The Volunteers came out in set three on a mission to not get swept and quickly jumped out a big lead by scoring eight of the first nine points of the set.
John A. Logan would continue to grow their lead to 16-5 before VU began to slowly chip away at the Volunteers' lead.
VU would cut the deficit back down to six but were unable to completely erase the big lead as John A. Logan took set three 25-18 and forced a fourth set.
John A. Logan carried this momentum from set three into set four, breaking away with a 4-0 scoring run to take a 17-11 lead.
VU would then answer with five unanswered to cut the Logan lead back down to one.
Vincennes would keep battling, riding the momentum of the home crowd to take their first lead of the set at 22-21.
The Trailblazers would serve match point at 24-23 before Logan answered with back-to-back points to serve set point for themselves at 25-24.
Vincennes would rally back, scoring three unanswered points to close out the match in four sets 27-25 and earning the 3-1 match victory over the Volunteers.
After the match, the Vincennes University volleyball team recognized sophomore setter Maecy Johnson (Chrisman, Ill.) for surpassing 1,000 career set assists at VU.
Johnson reached this milestone on Saturday, Oct. 7 against Edison State Community College in VU's win over the Chargers in the final match of the Showdown on the Wabash Classic.
The win Thursday night also secures the No. 1 seed for the VU volleyball team in next week's NJCAA Division I Region 24 Tournament at Kaskaskia College in Centralia, Ill.
"There were two major things that I was thinking about both coming into the match and during the match tonight," VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. "The first, we knew that this was going to be Logan's last shot at possibly getting the No. 1 in the tournament, so we knew that they were going to really fight and give everything they have in this match."
"I do have to say, that was probably one of the best performances I've seen out of a Logan team in the last few years," Sien added. "They really covered everything defensively. They made it really hard to put a ball away. They blocked us really well. Even if they didn't always block us for a point, they got a hand on just about every shot. There were a lot of moments throughout the match where we found it really hard to get a kill because of that."
"We closed the margin in the third set and made it a little bit closer, but it really wasn't that close," Sien said. "You might think it would be a good thing to have such a dominating first set but I, personally, don't like those. Those quick, almost blowout type first sets can lead to teams almost naturally loose some of that intensity and aggression."
"We got up to 24-9 and then they got three straight points," Sien added. "I know it's only three points, but that's a little bit of momentum and they really carried that through for the rest of the match. We won the second set, but it was definitely more competitive. So, the second thing from tonight, winning a quick, decisive first set, I don't usually like that and I always coach the team to guard against letting up and I think that's what happened out here tonight."
"But we can also flip that into a positive and say that the first set was probably one of the best sets we've played all year," Sien said. "Now we've got to learn to carry that from beginning to end. Volleyball is a funny sport and at this level with the youth at times that we have on the floor, you train the mindset more than the skill at times."
"Maecy was able to set some during the season last year but it was always difficult to get her on the floor because we had two sophomore setters," Sien said. "But it was nice to have her because there were times where one of those sophomores were out and it was like 'no problem, we have Maecy'."
"The nice thing about a player like Maecy is that if they respond well, are coachable and have good retention of what we coach, then it's almost an extension of the coach on the floor," Sien added. "This season really started for her in the spring last year. She played a lot in the spring and it really showed just how important the spring season really is, especially at this level. She set really well in the spring and that allowed me to really coach her up."
"She does a nice job of doing what we want her to do out there," Sien said. "And there have also been times where she is so mature as a setter that she makes her own decisions out there. In the last month and a half, I haven't really had to give a whole lot of feedback because she is running things so efficiently."
"Maecy is also a good student," Sien added. "She's very serious about her studies. She's studying Agribusiness and was brought up in a farming family, so whether or not she chooses to continue her volleyball career, we know that she is going to contribute well to the economy in this country through farming. It's always so cool to see young people going into farming because it's just so uncommon right now."
The VU offense was led by sophomores Paige Parlanti (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Audrey Buis (Franklin, Ind.) who each recorded a double-double.
Parlanti filled up the stats sheet with 18 kills, 21 digs, two blocks, two aces and one set assist, while Buis came through with 13 kills, 10 digs, one block and one set assist.
Freshman Laura Tavares (Merida, Venezuela) was the third VU hitter to reach double-figures, ending her night with 11 kills, three blocks and three digs.
Freshman Elisa Dalla Pozza (Vincenza, Italy) had another really good all-around game, ending with seven kills, a team-high six blocks, six digs, three set assists and one ace.
Freshman Isadora Dias (Rio Grande de Norte, Brazil) and sophomore Kennedy Sowell (Effingham, Ill.) rounded out the VU offense with Dias ending with three kills, two digs and one ace, while Sowell ended with two blocks, one kill and one dig.
Maecy Johnson again ran a tremendous game from the setter position, recorded a double-double of her own with 32 set assists, 10 digs, two kills and one ace.
Freshman setter Libby Mehringer (Jasper, Ind.) also saw time on the floor Thursday night and came away with seven set assists and three digs.
Sophomore libero Morgan Netcott (Montague, Mich.) controlled the VU defense for most of the match, ending with a very impressive 37 digs and one set assist on the night.
"It was really hard at times to find points against Logan's defense tonight," Sien said. "They were really playing well overall and everyone for us out there on the floor, we just didn't give up. We kept swinging and yeah, we got blocked, but if you keep swinging long enough, you are going to find the holes in the defense and get points."
"It could have been very easy for us to start tipping or to not hit as hard and be more tentative," Sien added. "As a former player, I know that it can get frustrating to just keep swinging, so I definitely share any possible frustrations that we might have had out there. But they didn't let any of those frustrations get the better of them. They just kept playing aggressively."
"Audrey and Paige had the most sets out there tonight," Sien said. "They basically just swung at everything and pretty much challenged Logan to block it. I really liked that, while at times we didn't play our best, you cannot fault our aggressiveness or our passion. Because we could have easily let this game get away from us, I really just appreciate the fight that this group has. Sometimes you can't discount the emotional and mental part of the game."
The Vincennes volleyball team will return to the P.E. Complex floor for the final time during the fall 2023 season Saturday, Oct. 21 when VU hosts Region 24 opponent Kaskaskia College on Sophomore Recognition day.
This match is set to begin at 12 p.m. eastern and is the season finale for the VU Trailblazer volleyball team.
"We just have to stay in the fight," Sien said. "We are always going to get everybody's best shot out there. Whether a team is having a great season or on a big losing streak, but that's just the nature of the beast here. We are back-to-back Region champions and also, we're Vincennes. Across all sports, everybody is always going to get their best shot."
"We just have to not only be ready to meet their intensity level but surpass it," Sien added. "The mental preparation I think was really good from tonight that we were really tested. Because we are going to get tested again in just over a week and there's a good chance that we could see Logan again. So we should know each other really well after playing for almost two hours tonight. They know our tendencies and we know there's."
BOX SCORE
John A. Logan – 12 21 25 25 x
VUVB (28-6, 11-0) – 25 25 18 27 x
VINCENNES STATS
Audrey Buis – 14 points, 13 kills, 1 solo block, 10 digs, 1 set assist
Morgan Netcott – 37 digs, 1 set assist
Paige Parlanti – 21.5 points, 2 aces, 18 kills, 1 solo block, 1 block assist, 21 digs, 1 set assist
Isadora Dias – 4 points, 1 ace, 3 kills, 2 digs
Maecy Johnson – 3 points, 1 ace, 2 kills, 10 digs, 32 set assists
Kennedy Sowell – 2 points, 1 kill, 2 block assists, 1 dig
Elisa Dalla Pozza – 11.5 points, 1 ace, 7 kills, 1 solo block, 5 block assists, 6 digs, 3 set assists
Laura Tavares – 12.5 points, 11 kills, 3 block assists, 3 digs
Libby Mehringer – 3 digs, 7 set assists
