VINCENNES, Ind. – The four-time defending Region 24 Champion Vincennes University volleyball team announced another big addition earlier this week in six-foot setter Scarlet Konkel.
“We have not really recruited the area where Scarlet is from before now, so we wanted to move towards looking more at that part of the state of Illinois,” VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. “At first we were looking at Scarlet as a middle, which she can do extremely well. However I was pleasantly surprised when she told me that the past couple of years she has been doing some setting too.”
“It’s tough to get setters with that level of length,” Sien added. “We typically like our setters to have some height so they can potentially play some front row or, if they are able to hit, be a part of a six-two offense by setting in the back row and hitting in the front row or be a blocking option in a five-one offense.”
“So now, we are recruiting Scarlet as a setter as well as an opposite/right side hitter, which is a position that she has played in the last couple of years,” Sien said. “And if we do end up needing her in the middle she is more than capable because she actually has more years of experience in that position.”
Konkel joins the Trailblazers after a very accomplished career at Nashville Community High School in Nashville, Ill. where she played for her father Josh Konkel, who was also her coach on the Southern Illinois Wave Club team.
Konkel is coming off of a standout senior season where she guided Nashville to a 33-4 record, playing all 82 sets in all 37 matches and ending the season with 459 set assists, 213 digs, 98 kills, a .260 hitting percentage, 23 aces and 18 blocks.
Konkel was named to the Southern Illinois River to River All-Conference team the times and also earned All-South honors three times.
Konkel also earned Illinois Volleyball Coaches Association (IVCA) All-State honorable mention honors once and 2nd team honors once.
Konkel also earned Honorable Mention All-State honors by the News-Gazette in 2023.
Konkel was twice named Team MVP at Nashville Community HS and earned the Serving award once.
Konkel was a member of the 2021 and 2022 Regional Championship teams at NCHS as well.
“Scarlet’s leadership and knowledge will be missed both on and off of the court,” Konkel’s High School and Club Coach Josh Konkel said. “I am proud of the way she has led her team over the past couple of years and I know that Vincennes is getting a great player and teammate in her.”
Scarlet is the daughter of Josh and Autumn Konkel and plans to major in Business at Vincennes University.
Konkel is a recipient of the Vincennes University Val/Sal Scholarship as the Valedictorian of her high school class and is an Illinois State Scholar.
Konkel is joining a Trailblazer squad that finished last season with a 30-13 record, earning VU’s fourth straight Region 24 Championship.
“Scarlet comes from a big time volleyball family,” Sien added. “Her father is her high school and club coach. Her sister plays at Cumberland University in Tennessee and was an All-American this past season. She has a tremendous volleyball background. Her mother coaches at the grade school level. Her sisters coaches, too When you get someone who is the youngest in their family, typically the youngest will absorb everything. So we are going to be getting someone who not only has some really good playing experience but also life experience because her family has that background.”
“Scarlet comes in with a very strong volleyball background and has some leadership experience,” Sien said. “Having someone who has that experience at the middle position also goes back to how we recruit for blocking. Scarlet is also an excellent student. She’s the valedictorian of her graduating class, she’s an Illinois State Scholar. So she is definitely someone who is going to be very serious about academics and about life outside of volleyball as well.”
“We are going to have quite a number of new players next season,” Sien added. “Right now we have a lot of length and height. We have a lot of athletic ability and should be able to fill just about every position of need that we have open due to graduation. We’re still not done. We’ve got space for a couple more players out there. But where we are now, if we were to start the season today, I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable with the roster we have right now.”
“It might take us a little bit of time because we have so much newness coming in,” Sien said. “Last season we had a number of veteran players in key positions coming back so we were able to ease our incoming freshmen into our system and philosophy. But this year it could take us a little bit more time to get that going because of all the new incoming players and really only having three weeks of practices before our first game in August. But I feel really good about who we have already signed so far.”
The Vincennes University Athletic Department is excited to welcome Scarlet Konkel to the 2025 Trailblazer recruiting class.
