USI falls to MSU, 3-0

EVANSVILLE, Ind. –University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (1-22, 1-11 OVC) hosted its annual Dig Pink Night Friday at Screaming Eagles Arena where the Morehead State University Eagles (12-12, 8-5) came away with the 3-0 sweep (25-14, 25-19, 25-23).
 
The Screaming Eagles watched MSU kick off the opening frame with an 8-0 lead before winning the set, 25-14. Junior outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) ended the drought with a powerful kill before MSU went on a quick 4-0 stint that made it 12-1. USI got three points back after a pair of MSU attacking errors and a kill from sophomore outside hitter Abby Weber (Fishers, Indiana). MSU took four of the next five points to take a 16-5 lead before USI went on a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to seven. The comeback was short-lived after MSU scored nine of the final 14 points to claim the one-set victory.
 
Another strong offensive performance from MSU cost USI a 25-19 second set. USI was able to take a quick 2-1 lead after an MSU attacking error and a kill from sophomore middle hitter Paris Downing (Avon, Indiana). With the score tied a five, MSU went on a 6-0 run that had four kills and an ace to gain the lead. An ace and a kill from Anderson stopped the bleeding and allowed USI to play back-and-forth with MSU to 17-14. MSU dropped four straight kills to regain a seven-point gap before USI added three straight kills of their own. However, it was too late as MSU put up three kills in their final four points to take set two and a 2-0 match advantage.
 
USI had a glimmer of hope in the final set but fell short, 25-23. Both teams were neck-and-neck early in the frame before a couple of short runs from MSU made it 10-6. Down by four, USI snagged three-straight thanks to Anderson who tallied back-to-back aces to cut the deficit to just one. However, MSU came back with a streak of their own to make it 18-14. With the help of a trio of service errors, USI was back in reach and struck with an impressive 3-0 stint, highlighted by a kill from sophomore outside/right side hitter Abby Bednar (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) to make it 21-20. MSU would nab a pair of kills to extend their lead before Anderson struck back that made the score 23-22. In the end, MSU got the upper hand and scored the final point to win their fourth in the last five matches.
 
Anderson earned her third-straight double-double and 11th on the season after totaling 12 kills and 10 digs. She also led the group with three aces while sophomore defensive specialist/outside hitter Anna Ballengee (Montgomery, Indiana) tallied one. Bednar ended her night with six kills and three blocks while sophomore setter Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indiana) recorded a team-high 24 assists. Junior libero/defensive specialist Audrey Crowder (Avon, Indiana) stepped up with 13 digs while Weber had 13 digs.
 
USI produced 32 kills, 30 assists, and four aces while adding 52 digs and a match-high seven blocks. MSU ended the night with 53 kills, 46 assists, and three aces along with 63 digs and three blocks.
 

Vazquez adds 19 kills

 

VALPARAISO, Ind. – Finishing with 12 service aces, the University of Evansville volleyball team earned a huge road victory at Valparaiso, defeating the Beacons by a 3-1 final on Friday evening at the ARC.

Alondra Vazquez added 19 more kills to her program record while tallying 24 digs in the victory.  Giulia Cardona added 15 kills and 14 digs while Emilee Scheumann had a strong 11-kill performance.  Kora Ruff and Blakeley Freeman added 14 digs each while Maddie Hawkins picked up 10 – her first double digit effort.  Madisyn Steele added eight kills and three block assists.  Ruff led the way with 49 assists and four aces while Laura Ruiz and Cardona picked up three apiece.

Set 1 – UE 25, VU 17

At the start, both teams duked it out leading to a 5-5 score.  Evansville made the first significant run of the game, scoring four in a row to go up 9-5.  Emilee Scheumann and Madisyn Steele posted a block during the stretch.

Following a time out, the Beacons stormed back to go in front at 12-11 as a 7-2 run put them in front.  Steele quickly put the lead back in the Aces hands at 13-12 and Alondra Vazquez finished off a 4-0 rally with a kill to make it a 16-12 game.  UE continued to add to the advantage with a Giulia Cardona ace extending the lead before Scheumann had the clinching kill in a 25-17 win.

Set 2 – VU 25, UE 21

Giulia Cardona was credited with a kill to give Evansville the first multi-point lead either team would enjoy to that point in the second frame when she made it 7-5.  The Beacons countered with a 4-0 stretch to retake the lead.

With Valpo enjoying an 11-10 advantage, they would add to it with a 5-2 run to go up 16-12.  Trailing 21-17, UE made a final rally when Vazquez recorded consecutive kills to cut the gap to a pair, but the Beacons finished the set with a 25-21 win to tie the match.

Set 3 – UE 25, VU 23

From start to finish, the Aces put together a strong performance in game three to take a 2-1 lead.  Laura Ruiz and Kora Ruff picked up service aces that put the Aces in front at 7-3.  Ruiz would add her second ace to stabilize a 13-10 Evansville edge.

Valparaiso rallied to tie the score at 13-13, but it was another ace that pushed the lead back to three as Ruff added her second one of the set.  Once again, the Beacons fought back to tie the score, doing so at 21-21.  Maddie Hawkins recorded an ace and it was Vazquez picking up the clinching kill.

Set 4 – UE 25, VU 20

Evansville utilized its serving to jump out to a 6-1 advantage to open game four.  Ruiz added one before Ruff tallied two more in the early stretch.  The lead for UE remained at five (11-6) when Valpo made its run, scoring five in a row to tie the score before Vazquez put UE back on top.

The definitive run came with the Aces up 15-14.  Cardona registered a kill and helped UE go on a 7-1 run to go up 22-15.  Valpo made a late run before UE clinched the match with a 25-20 win.  Tomorrow, the Aces look for the weekend sweep as they take on UIC at 5 p.m.

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer volleyball team survived the first step in defending their Region 24 crown Friday afternoon after defeating Kaskaskia College 29-27, 20-25, 14-25, 25-20, 15-8 in the NJCAA Division I Region 24 volleyball semi-finals.

Vincennes began their day in the afternoon semi-final round after the Trailblazers earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament with a 10-0 regular season Region 24 record.

The early stages of the opening set really showed how close this matchup is between VU and the No. 4 seed Blue Angels.

The two teams traded small scoring runs and side outs with neither team able to get a firm control of the match.

Vincennes found themselves trailing late with Kaskaskia serving set point four different times before the Blazers would rally back to score three unanswered points in overtime to take set one 29-27.

The Trailblazers carried this momentum into the second set, using a 6-0 scoring run to take an early four-point lead.

Kaskaskia would battle back and regain the lead at 17-16. Vincennes would again try to rally back from this late deficit but were unable to as the Blue Angels claimed set two 25-20 and evened the match a 1-1.

Kaskaskia looked to take full control of the match and completely swing the momentum in the third set after a pair of 5-0 scoring runs gave the Blue Angels the 25-14 set win and the 2-1 match lead.

With their backs against the wall the youthful Trailblazers looked to answer back in the fourth set after falling behind early again.

Vincennes erased a small three-point lead and managed to swing the momentum to their side with a 9-2 scoring run.

The Trailblazers forced a fifth set after taking the fourth set 25-20 over Kaskaskia.

In the winner-take-all fifth set, the Trailblazers were not only playing for a spot in tomorrow’s Region 24 Championship match, but also playing for an opportunity to host one of the Midwest District Tournaments next weekend.

The fifth set began as another back-and-forth battle, with Vincennes striking first with a 3-0 scoring run.

The Trailblazers would build on their lead with a late 5-0 scoring run to seal the fifth set victory over the Blue Angels 15-8 and earn their third straight trip to the Region 24 Championship game.

“We had to incorporate a couple of players into the lineup today that had not really practiced or not at all the last two weeks,” VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. “The other thing going into today was that we hadn’t played since last Saturday and Kaskaskia was playing their third match of the week and second of the day. Kaskaskia definitely played well in their first match of the day and overall played really well against us.”

“Even after the dire situation we put ourselves in after that third set, I always tell our players ‘I always believe in us, even if we just lose 0-25, I still think we can always comeback and win’,” Sien added. “We just need to work on cleaning up a few things for tomorrow. We missed a few serves. I think in the second set when the score was over 20, we missed around three serves and you can’t miss serves after 20 points. It’s just cleaning up things that we normally do well but just didn’t today, like serve and serve receive.”

“If you serve receive well, everything else will come along like hitting, blocking and everything else,” Sien said. “We didn’t play very well today, maybe in the fourth and fifth sets we did. But this was a real challenge to see how tough we are. At a certain point we have to ask ourselves, what are we made of, beyond just the volleyball.”

Vincennes was led offensively by a double-double performance out of freshman Paige Parlanti (Las Vegas, Nev.) who ended with 17 kills, 16 digs and four blocks.

Sophomore Malgorzata Banasiak (Gdynia, Poland) would also reach double-figure kills, ending with 10 kills on a .476 hitting percentage, three digs and one block.

Freshman Audrey Buis (Franklin, Ind.) nearly missed a double-double with nine kills, seven digs and five blocks.

Freshman Tuana Turhan (Ankara, Turkey) had a big night at the net, ending with six kills, five blocks, one ace and one dig.

Freshmen Alexis Chrappa (Effingham, Ill.) and Nisa Salis (Ankara, Turkey) each recorded two kills, with Salis adding a team-high eight blocks and one dig, while Chrappa added seven digs and two blocks.

Sophomore setters Josephine Mulligan (Saint John, Ind.) and Hannah Graber (Montgomery, Ind.) round out the VU offense with one kill each. Mulligan narrowly missed a double-double with 16 set assists, nine digs and an ace, while Graber picked up her seventh double-double of the season with 31 set assists, 11 digs, two aces and a block.

Freshman libero Morgan Netcott (Montague, Mich.) led the Blazers defensively with 20 digs and one set assist.

Sophomore Lara Gomes de Castro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) ended her night with seven digs and an ace.

“We switched around the lineup late and Hannah, who was one player who hadn’t played since we were at Mineral Area, got her in there and let her set a 5-1,” Sien said. “Having sophomore setters like her and Joie and being able to put Joie in the back row to have that option is a lineup that we haven’t used very often, but when we really need it is a lineup that we can use. I really give Hannah a lot of credit, she showed a lot of leadership out on the floor. We are such a young team, they have done really well this season, but there are some situations that they just haven’t gone through yet.”

“I thought Malgorzata played her best match in her career today,” Sien added. “She had 10 kills on 21 swings, for a pin to hit that well is phenomenal. She also brought some sophomore leadership and was really one who demanded to get some sets. The sophomores really did a nice job. Lara came in, in the sets that we lost, when she was off our whole defense was off. We challenged our defense after the third set and Lara went out and got some major digs and served tough.”

“Our two middles (Tuana and Nisa) didn’t get a lot of sets offensively and really came through in crucial points defensively with blocks,” Sien said. “At times when we are not passing well, it’s hard to get sets to our middles but they were big time for us with the blocks. In the fourth and fifth sets the blocking really took over and those two played a major part in it. At times we don’t mention those two a lot, just because they don’t get a lot of kills, but they really do a thankless job of blocking. They have really been doing that the whole year for us.”

The Trailblazers will host No. 2 John A. Logan in the NJCAA Division I Region 24 Championship match Saturday, Oct. 29 at the P.E. Complex. This match is set to begin at 1 p.m. eastern.

The Kaskaskia Blue Angels will begin the day Saturday with the Third-Place match against No. 3 Lake Land at 11 a.m. eastern.

“Believe it or not, I’m really glad we had a really tough match today,” Sien said. “I think if we had a quick three-set match, I don’t know how ready we would be for tomorrow. It’s always nice to win 3-0, but sometimes it’s great to go through something like this and show our freshman players that this is what it is like in the postseason. The atmosphere, the pressure, where every play and every point is important and you can’t take plays off. I think it was great that we had that type of challenge tonight.”

“Tomorrow is definitely going to be tough,” Sien added. “John A. Logan has been steadily improving all year. It is definitely going to be a challenge tomorrow, but anything that is worthwhile is going to be a challenge.”

The day one scores at the Region 24 tournament were No. 4 Kaskaskia over No. 5 Wabash Valley 25-15, 25-21, 25-20. No. 3 Lake Land over No. 6 Shawnee 25-8, 25-9, 25-6. No. 1 Vincennes over No. 4 Kaskaskia 29-27, 20-25, 14-25, 25-20, 15-8. No. 2 John A. Logan over No. 3 Lake Land 25-18, 25-23, 24-26, 12-25, 15-13.