Trailblazers building momentum after Region 24 road sweep at Frontier

FAIRFIELD, Ill. – The Vincennes University volleyball team hit the road Tuesday night for another Region 24 road showdown, this time heading to Fairfield, Ill. to take on Frontier Community College.

The Trailblazers handled business against the Bobcats, coming away with a big sweep 25-12, 25-11, 25-10 ahead of the 2024 Showdown on the Wabash tournament.

VU got the night started off strong by quickly building a 14-5 lead over Frontier in the opening set.

Frontier would cut the deficit to six after three unanswered points but Vincennes was able to rebound and pull away late with a 6-0 run to take set one 25-12 and gain a 1-0 match lead.

Set two began as more of a back-and-forth affair, with Frontier gaining their first lead of the night at 5-2 before Vincennes answered back with six straight to take the lead back at 8-5.

Vincennes would hold on to this lead, closing out the second set with a massive 13-2 scoring run to take set two 25-11 and earn a 2-0 match lead.

The Trailblazers continued to show their strength in set three, looking to close out the sweep, Vincennes only allowed Frontier to score consecutive points once in the set as VU again pulled away late with a 10-1 scoring run to take set three 25-10 and complete the three set sweep.

"We wanted to play hard and to play hard respectfully," VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. "We talked about being on task in all parts of the game and especially do better in our offense, which was way off last week."

The Trailblazer offense was led by sophomores Laura Tavares (Merida, Venezuela) and Elisa Dalla Pozza (Vincenza, Italy) who each recorded nine kills in the match.

Tavares also added one block, while Dalla Pozza led the Blazers with three blocks, two aces and two digs.

Sophomore Isadora Dias (Rio Grande de Norte, Brazil) and freshman Martyna Sadowska (Pila, Poland) each finished the night with five kills, with Dias adding four digs and one block and Sadowska adding two blocks.

Sophomore Allison Czyzewski (Louisville, Ill.) finished her night with four kills and two blocks, while freshman Paulina Fister (Tuszyn, Poland) came away with four kills, four digs, three set assists and one block.

Freshman Karen Kodi (West Carrollton, Ohio) rounded out the VU offensive numbers with a pair of kills on the night.

Sophomore setter Libby Mehringer (Jasper, Ind.) ran the VU offense very well, distributing the ball to 17 set assists, three digs and two aces.

Freshman Rylee Edwards (Fairfield, Ill.) put on a show for her hometown crowd, finishing with 12 set assists and five digs.

Sophomore Dylan DeCoursey (Montgomery, Ind.) entered the match in the third set and finished her night with seven set assists and three digs.

Sophomore libero Grace Flexter (Oblong, Ill.) led the Vincennes back row defense with a team-high 11 digs and one ace, while freshman Ashley Earp (Mattoon, Ill.) added four digs and a pair of aces.

Freshman Julianna Rettig (Antioch, Ill.) closed out the VU box score with a pair of digs and one ace on the night.

"I thought Paulina swung very well tonight and we need her to," Sien added. "I thought our setters, Dylan, Libby and Rylee made some great setting choices, especially in the middle. Allison and Elisa had some great swings in the middle as we hit over .300 percent tonight."

"Laura swung well too and Grace was on point in serve receive as well," Sien said.

The Trailblazers will look to carry this momentum into another big weekend tournament as Vincennes prepares to host the 2024 Showdown on the Wabash tournament Friday, Oct. 4 and Saturday, Oct. 5.

VU will open their weekend slate with a Region 24 match against Southwestern Illinois College Friday, Oct. 4 at 3 p.m. eastern before closing out the first day of the tournament against Wallace State Community College at 7 p.m. eastern.

The Blazers will then return to the P.E. Complex floor Saturday to take on St. Louis Community College at 10 a.m. eastern and face Calhoun Community College in the final game of the weekend tournament at 2 p.m. eastern.

This weekend's Showdown on the Wabash tournament will feature seven teams over the two-day tournament, featuring teams from five different states.

"We have two tough games to start on Friday against two teams we defeated at their place," Sien added. "They are both on good winning streaks, so it will be a challenge."

"We want to call a reset to our season as we had a big lull last week," Sien said. "We want to refocus and renew our efforts. We knew this never was going to be easy and we need to be willing to pay whatever price it takes to win."

BOX SCORE

Frontier – 12   11   10   x   x

VUVB (16-7, 7-2) – 25   25   25   x   x

VINCENNES STATS

Grace Flexter – 1 point, 1 ace, 11 digs

Paulina Fister – 4.5 points, 4 kills, 1 block assist, 4 digs, 3 set assists

Rylee Edwards – 5 digs, 12 set assists

Dylan DeCoursey – 3 digs, 7 set assists

Julianna Rettig – 1 point, 1 ace, 2 digs

Laura Tavares – 9.5 points, 9 kills, 1 block assist

Isadora Dias – 5.5 points, 5 kills, 1 block assist, 4 digs

Allison Czyzewski – 5 points, 4 kills, 2 block assists

Ashley Earp – 2 points, 2 aces, 4 digs

Martyna Sadowska – 6 points, 5 kills, 2 block assists

Elisa Dalla Pozza – 12.5 points, 2 aces, 9 kills, 3 block assists, 2 digs

Karen Kodi – 2 points, 2 kills

Libby Mehringer – 2 points, 2 aces, 3 digs, 17 set assists