VINCENNES, Ind. – Trailblazer sophomore setter Savannah Grimes recorded her 1,000th career set assist in Vincennes' three-set sweep over three-time defending Region 24 Champion John A. Logan Friday night.
VU got off to a hot start, scoring the first five points of the match before expanding their lead to 10-3. The Trailblazers took the first set 25-15 over the Volunteers.
Vincennes continued to ride their momentum into the second set, scoring 11 of the first 14 points of the set.
John A. Logan would respond however, taking the lead at 15-13.
The second set continued to be a back-and-forth battle, with VU scoring the final three points to take a 2-0 match lead with the 25-22 set victory.
John A. Logan looked to have momentum to begin set three as the Volunteers began the comeback attempt. Logan jumped out to a 10-3 advantage.
The Trailblazers were the ones to respond this time, as VU battled back to even the score at 12-all.
Vincennes then went on an unbelievable scoring run that nearly ended the match. The Trailblazers scored an amazing 12 unanswered points to gain match point with a commanding 24-12 lead.
The Volunteers tried to mount another comeback attempt but the deficit proved to be too much as VU took set three 25-17 to finish off the three-set sweep.
"Our blocking was really good tonight and that's the idea, take away the line shot and force their hitters to hit a cross shot to either Grace Earp or Anna Johnsey," VUVB head coach Gary Sien said. "I thought our defense was really good. Sometimes we struggle when our front line doesn't get the block, but I thought our defense and our blocking were exceptional tonight."
"I thought set three was very impressive because we really struggled in the second set. We made a lot of errors and really made it closer than it should have been but after that the question was 'are we going to continue to struggle or are we going to pick it up'. I thought for us to turn it around like we did in the third set was really impressive for such a young team."
Savannah Grimes ran the Trailblazer offense to perfection, finishing with 34 set assists, a team-high 19 digs, three kills and a service ace.
"Savannah is a rockstar. She's double majoring in Marine Biology and Engineering, was first time NJCAA All-Academic last year, it's just unbelievable how she can do all of that and still be able to play a sport, be a team captain and be a setter in our one setter system. If I had a pick for Student-Athlete of the Year, she would get my vote for sure."
"Last year we were in a two-setter system, so it's hard to get a lot of set assists when we have two setters. This is really her first year running a one setter offense, throughout high school and club they always had two setters and she's still learning how run that and how to attack the ball too. For someone who is still new to that, I think she's one of the best setters in the Region."
"We're really happy for her and really all our sophomores who are trying to mold this group of freshmen into the team it is now and we saw the results of that tonight. This was a very mature performance. We could have thrown it in in set three but turns out that was probably our best set."
Sophomore Breanna Metzger and freshmen Anna Johnsey and Amee Beedle were on the receiving end of many of Grimes' assists as the trio recorded eight kills each.
Metzger added seven digs, four block assists and a solo block. Johnsey finished with three digs and three block assists. Beedle ended her night with 14 digs, 1 block assist and a service ace.
Freshman Jamie Russell recorded seven kills along with two block assists and a solo block.
"Not playing for a week really didn't hurt us. With our schedule we're playing a lot of weekends, which gives us a lot of practice time and I think that's pretty good for such a young team. It's great to play, but sometimes we play too many games and we don't have the time practice as much."
VU improves to 7-4 on the season while remaining unbeaten in Region 24 play with a 4-0 record.
The Trailblazers will have a quick turnaround as VU hosts Frontier College and Ivy Tech-Northeast, Saturday Feb. 20 in tri-match action. VU will take on Frontier at 10 a.m. eastern, followed by VU vs. Ivy Tech-Northeast at 2 p.m.
"The good thing is this tri-match is at home," Sien said after his match Friday night ended, giving him roughly 12 hours to prepare for Saturday's tri-match. "We do not have any lesser goals. We're going to go out and compete. Typically, in a regular year we try to play every Saturday morning, but this is really our first early game this season so that's going to be a little different. The challenge is to stay the same way we are as a team right now here in about 12 hours. The good thing is the matches are at home, so we don't have to travel, so we have to take advantage of that. We're looking to take another step toward being a more mature team, keep getting better and never be satisfied."
VINCENNES STATS
John A. Logan 15 22 17 x x
Vincennes (7-4) 25 25 25 x x
Kacee Nicholson – 1 point, 1 kill, 13 digs
Savannah Grimes – 4 points, 1 ace, 3 kills, 19 digs, 34 set assists
Amee Beedle – 9.5 points, 1 ace, 8 kills, 1 block assists, 14 digs
Emile Cornelson – 6 points, 4 kills, 4 block assists, 2 digs
Anna Johnsey – 9.5 points, 8 kills, 3 block assists, 3 digs
Breanna Metzger – 11 points, 8 kills, 1 solo blocks, 4 block assists, 7 digs
Jamie Russell – 9 points, 7 kills, 1 solo blocks, 2 block assists
Grace Earp – 16 digs, 1 set assists
Elizabeth Combs – 1 point, 1 kill
Olga Vasovic – 9 digs
