Trailblazers continue to roll with Region 24 doubleheader sweep over Shawnee

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University volleyball team continued their hot start to the 2024 fall season Saturday afternoon inside the Physical Education Complex.

The Trailblazers played host to Region 24 opponent Shawnee Community College for a Region 24 doubleheader against the Saints Saturday afternoon.

VU has gotten off to an excellent start to the season, improving to 3-0 on the year and winning all nine sets played after defeating the Saints 25-8, 25-18, 25-15 in match one and 25-11, 25-11, 25-6 in match two.

Vincennes got the day off to a great start in match one of the day, quickly building a 15-4 lead in set one before later using a 9-0 scoring run to close out the opening set of the day 25-8.

Shawnee battled back early in set two building a quick 5-1 advantage before the Blazers took the momentum back with six unanswered.

The Saints continued to battle in set two, evening the score at 12-12 before the Blazers again jumped in front with an 8-1 scoring run to help close out set two 25-18 and take the 2-0 match lead.

VU looked to close out the first match of the day quickly in set three, scoring the first five points of the set before Shawnee would again battle, cutting the score down to 11-9.

This would be as close as the Saints would get in set three, as Vincennes would use an 11-2 scoring run to gain control of the match and close out the set 25-15 to complete the three set sweep.

The VU offense was led in match one of the day by another big game at the net by sophomore Elisa Dalla Pozza (Vincenza, Italy) who finished with 11 kills, one block, one ace and one set assist.

Sophomores Laura Tavares (Merida, Venezuela) and Isadora Dias (Rio Grande de Norte, Brazil) each recorded seven kills for the Blazers, with Tavares also adding a block and one dig while Dias finished with six digs and three aces.

Freshman Karen Kodi (West Carrollton, Ohio) made her collegiate debut in match one, coming in for an injured freshman Paulina Fister (Tuszyn, Poland) and more than held her own with five kills and one block.

Freshman Martyna Sadowska (Pila, Poland) ended her first match of the day with a pair of kills and two solo blocks, while sophomore Allison Czyzewski (Louisville, Ill.) rounded out the VU offensive production with one kill and two digs.

Sophomore setters Libby Mehringer (Jasper, Ind.) and Dylan DeCoursey (Montgomery, Ind.) again ran the Trailblazer offense well, with the pair each recording 15 set assists in the match, with Mehringer adding a pair of aces and four digs, while DeCoursey finished with two digs.

Sophomore libero Grace Flexter (Oblong, Ill.) rounded out the Vincennes box score in match one, finishing with three digs, two set assists and one ace.

"It was just an excellent response by the team after Paulina went out so early," VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. "While we were obviously concerned for Paulina, another concern we had was, do we regroup and how do we respond to this. I've seen both sides of that and either one could have happened with it happening so early and having so much youth on the sideline. But I really have to give credit to Karen for stepping in."

"We just love the energy that she brings," Sien added. "We can be a little bit quiet in general this year. We have to do better with that. But then when you have somebody that steps in and is loud and animated and really brings that energy to the team, everybody feeds off of that because it encourages others to also talk and show some energy as well."

The Trailblazers looked to carry this momentum into match two of the day and after a short break the teams returned to the floor and VU picked up right where they left off.

Vincennes opened match two by building an early 10-1 lead in set one.

Shawnee would look to answer back but were unable to put together a big scoring run.

VU scored seven straight late in the first set to pull away and take the first set 25-11 over the Saints.

Vincennes again jumped out to a big early lead in set two, holding a 15-5 advantage midway through the set, Vincennes closed the door on set two by scoring the final five points to come away with the 25-11 set two victory and gain a 2-0 match lead.

The Trailblazers looked to finish out their third straight sweep to begin the season in set three and were able to gain complete control with a big 9-0 scoring run as part of a larger 16-2 scoring run Vincennes would use to close out set three 25-6 and complete the doubleheader sweep.

The two wins Saturday improves VU's record to 3-0 with all three wins coming against Region 24 opponents, extending VU's winning streak over Region 24 opponents to 41 straight matches.

The Vincennes offense was again led by sophomore Laura Taveres, who led the Blazers with seven kills and one block in match two.

Isadora Dias and Martyna Sadowska each finished the second match of the day with six kills, while Dias added a pair of blocks, two digs and an ace, while Sadowska finished with five blocks, including one solo block.

Allison Czyzewski and Elisa Dalla Pozza each ended the match with four kills, with Czyzewski matching Sadowska's team high of five blocks, while Dalla Pozza continued to fill up the box score with three aces, two blocks, one dig and one set assist.

Karen Kodi rounded out the VU offense with three kills in the match.

Setters Libby Mehringer and Dylan DeCoursey again distributed the ball well, with Mehringer leading VU with 16 set assists, six digs and five aces, while DeCoursey finished with 12 set assists and one ace.

Freshman Rylee Edwards (Fairfield, Ill.) made her collegiate debut in match two, recording two set assists as well.

Freshmen Ashley Earp (Mattoon, Ill.) and Brooklyn Summers (Loogootee, Ind.) also saw playing time in match two of the day, with Earp coming away with one dig, while Summers recorded two digs and an ace in her collegiate debut.

Sophomore libero Grace Flexter again had a solid game defensively in the back row, finishing her day with two digs, two set assists and two aces.

"You go into today expecting that we will do well in the first match, just because it's the first match of the day," Sien said. "However, just because playing back-to-back matches like this is something that we just don't do very often, it's a great unknown of how we are going to respond in the second match. Not only just us, but I thought that Shawnee played better than they did the first time. But I thought we really just took off and played some really good volleyball in the second match."

"The execution on the floor was really right where it needed to be," Sien added. "We talked about that in between the two matches that we were getting opportunities to be in transition, so lets get the ball, get that first contact right on point and run our offense and Shawnee just had a hard time stopping us."

"If we are able to get those first two touches to be near perfect, it's over," Sien said. "I thought we did a really good job in the second match of taking care of the first two contacts. If we get those first two, more than likely we are going to score. If nothing else, we are going to get a really good swing and if we get a good swing, there's a high percentage chance we are going to get a kill."

"I thought Martyna played well and is getting used to playing on the right side," Sien added. "She's played middle basically her entire career and now she's really starting to find her groove and our setters are starting to know where to go with her and what speed to go. She had some pretty nice swings in the second match."

"I thought Grace serve received extremely well and had a pretty good game," Sien said. "When we were out of system, she was able to put up a really good, hittable ball. Brooklyn Summers did a pretty nice job overall in her first time out there. She was able to ball control and had a good, accurate serve. Libby also, like Thursday, in both matches had some pretty big runs serving. She got five aces in 16 serve attempts in the second match. In the first match, she didn't have as many aces but she had more attempts, which is always a good sign."

Vincennes will again look to keep this early season momentum going as the Trailblazers prepare to hit the road for the first time this season next weekend when VU heads to the 2024 Owens C.C. Tournament in Perrysburg, Ohio.

Vincennes will open the weekend tournament Friday, Aug. 30 against Mott Community College at 10 a.m. eastern before later taking on NJCAA Division II No. 8-ranked Richard Bland College at 1:30 p.m. eastern.

The Blazers will close out the weekend tournament by facing off against Southwestern Michigan Community College Saturday, Aug. 31 at 9 a.m. eastern before taking on Lakeland Community College at 12:30 p.m. eastern.

"We've been playing on the road the entire preseason, so that at least, shouldn't be too much of a factor," Sien said. "I expect us to do well because despite it being our first road trip of the regular season, it's not just about the games and the competition this weekend. This trip is three days and is usually pretty good early in the season as a team bonding experience."

"We do have close to a full week off between games since we don't play until Friday," Sien added. "Then the next week is like that too, where we don't play again until the following Friday. So we need to take advantage of these next couple of weeks. Get some rest time and use some time to be caught up on homework before we travel because after Blazer Classic, that's when we start a long streak of weekday road games."

"Both weekend tournaments will be tough," Sien said. "But our schedule is always tough. We have the toughest schedule out of any other school in our Region. Shawnee played well today. This is probably the best team that they have had since they restarted the program."

BOX SCORE

MATCH ONE

Shawnee – 8   18   15   x   x

VUVB (2-0, 2-0) – 25   25   25   x   x

VINCENNES STATS

Grace Flexter – 1 point, 1 ace, 3 digs, 2 set assists

Paulina Fister – 1 dig

Dylan DeCoursey – 2 digs, 15 set assists

Laura Tavares – 8 points, 7 kills, 1 solo block, 1 dig

Isadora Dias – 10 points, 3 aces, 7 kills, 6 digs

Allison Czyzewski – 1 point, 1 kill, 2 digs

Martyna Sadowska – 4 points, 2 kills, 2 solo blocks

Elisa Dalla Pozza – 12.5 points, 1 ace, 11 kills, 1 block assist, 1 set assist

Karen Kodi – 5.5 points, 5 kills, 1 block assist

Libby Mehringer – 2 points, 2 aces, 4 digs, 15 set assists

MATCH TWO

Shawnee – 11   11   6   x   x

VUVB (3-0, 3-0) – 25   25   25   x   x

VINCENNES STATS

Grace Flexter – 2 points, 2 aces, 2 digs, 2 set assists

Rylee Edwards – 2 set assists

Dylan DeCoursey – 1 point, 1 ace, 12 set assists

Brooklyn Summers – 1 point, 1 ace, 2 digs

Laura Tavares – 7.5 points, 7 kills, 1 block assist

Isadora Dias – 8 points, 1 ace, 6 kills, 2 block assists, 2 digs

Allison Czyzewski – 7 points, 4 kills, 1 solo block, 4 block assists

Ashley Earp – 1 dig

Martyna Sadowska – 9 points, 6 kills, 1 solo block, 4 block assists

Elisa Dalla Pozza – 8 points, 3 aces, 4 kills, 2 block assists, 1 dig, 1 set assist

Karen Kodi – 3 points, 3 kills

Libby Mehringer – 5 points, 5 aces, 6 digs, 16 set assists