VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University volleyball team faces another packed weekend of games this weekend as the Blazers open Friday night with a Region 24 showdown against Frontier Community College.

The Blazers came away with the convincing sweep over the Bobcats 25-7, 25-15, 25-16 inside the Physical Education Complex.

Vincennes opened the match with a very strong opening set, building an early lead with a trio of 3-0 scoring runs before putting the set away by outscoring Frontier C.C. 13-1 to take set one 25-7 and gain the early 1-0 match lead.

Set two was more of a back-and-forth battle at the start, with VU able to break away with another set of three 3-0 scoring runs giving VU an 18-11 advantage.

Vincennes continued to cruise through the second set, closing out the set 25-15 and taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

Looking to complete the sweep, the Trailblazers opened up a quick 8-3 lead, later getting the lead to double digits at 17-7 midway through the set.

Frontier would continue to battle down the stretch but were unable to put together a big scoring run to close the margin as VU took set three and the match 25-16.

“Our schedule this year is probably the toughest I’ve had since I’ve been here,” VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. “Every Tuesday playing on the road, so we don’t get to play at home until the weekends. I give a lot of credit to our team for hanging in there. It’s a lot of wear and tear to be on the road like that all the time. Combining the travel with their studies during the week, they have done a nice job of balancing everything.”

“As for tonight, every game for us is going to be big,” Sien added. “Our goal was to be competitive and play them with respect. We were treating them like we would any other opponent. We weren’t going to go out there and just go through the motions. We were going to play them hard, score points and get it done.”

“I do appreciate that the team did that tonight,” Sien said. “We were pretty much on task about 100 percent of the time. They didn’t have too many runs on us and we were able to put together some big runs.  It was a good overall effort out there. We executed pretty well. We rarely made mistakes but we were able to get the ball right back so they didn’t hurt us too much. But that’s really what we wanted. We wanted to end it, get our rest and be ready for tomorrow’s matches.”

The VU offense was led by sophomore Elisa Dalla Pozza (Vincenza, Italy) who had a big all-around game with 10 kills on a .600 hitting percentage, five aces, two blocks, two set assists and one dig.

Sophomore Isadora Dias (Rio Grande de Norte, Brazil) and freshman Martyna Sadowska (Pila, Poland) each finished the night with seven kills, with Dias adding a team-high nine digs and one set assist and Sadowska adding one block.

Sophomore Laura Tavares (Merida, Venezuela) came away with six kills, one block, one ace and one dig, while freshman Paulina Fister (Tuszyn, Poland) recorded four kills, three digs, one ace and one set assist.

Sophomore Allison Czyzewski (Louisville, Ill.) finished the match with three kills and two blocks, while freshman Karen Kodi (West Carrollton, Ohio) entered in the third set and recorded one kill.

Sophomore setter Libby Mehringer (Jasper, Ind.) ran the Trailblazer offense to a team-high 15 set assists, along with eight kills, four digs, two aces and one block.

Sophomore setter Dylan DeCoursey (Montgomery, Ind.) finished with 13 set assists and four digs, while freshman setter Rylee Edwards (Fairfield, Ill.) recorded five set assists and one dig.

Sophomore libero Grace Flexter (Oblong, Ill.) returned to the VU lineup and controlled the back row defense on her way to six digs, five set assists and one ace.

Freshmen Julianna Rettig (Antioch, Ill.) and Ashley Earp (Mattoon, Ill.) rounded out the VU box score with Rettig finishing with four digs and Earp coming away with three digs on the night.

“If we are in system and are able to get Elisa a good set, it could be anywhere on the net, she’s always going to have a really good swing and rarely, if ever, errors,” Sien said. “Having that combination, she’s going to get kills. On the season she’s hitting about .360. If you’re hitting above .300 as a middle, you are definitely next level. Not only the kills, but she also contributes in her serving and tonight we had a couple of nice runs with her serving. She’s definitely one of the better middles in the Region.”

“In our Region you don’t see too often see a lefty that swings as quick as Libby,” Sien added. “These last two years we’ve known that we have her hitting as an option if we need it. She swings well and when the blocker has to go to their left, a lot of blockers are not left handed, so a lot of times they are going to be a little slower going to their left. So us running the ball to Libby on the right side, you can typically get a little bit slower of a block. We definitely wanted her to bring more offense out there and she definitely contributed.”

“I thought Martyna hit pretty well tonight too,” Sien said. “We just wanted to take as much pressure off of our outsides as possible. They swing at the ball so many times every match that if we are able to get a little more balance in the other positions, we could be a much better team. That way opposing defense won’t know where the ball is going when we have three options out there.”

“I thought our setters did a nice job of distributing the ball,” Sien added. “There may have been a few times tonight when we misconnected but we were able to get it back the very next play. Overall, this was just a well all-around match. We executed pretty well to help make this as short a night as possible.”

The Trailblazers will continue their busy weekend slate of games tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 19 when VU returns to the P.E. Complex floor for a Region 24 tri-match with Lake Land College and Southeastern Illinois College.

 Aces take 5-set victory

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Evansville senior Giulia Cardona became just the second player in Missouri Valley Conference history to reach 2,000 kills in her career as the Purple Aces defeated Southern Illinois in five sets on Friday evening inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

Cardona finished the night with 37 kills, just three shy of the all-time Missouri Valley Conference single match record that she co-shares.  The senior hit an impressive .330 while adding 11 digs.  Angelica Gonzalez finished the match with 11 kills while Chloe Cline added 10.  Kora Ruff posted team-highs with 55 assists and 18 digs.  Southern Illinois was led by a 20-kill match from Kelly Franklin.

Set 1 – UE 25, SIU 21

Kora Ruff opened the night with a service ace as the Purple Aces jumped out to a 6-2 lead.  Southern Illinois utilized an 8-2 run to take their first advantage at 10-8 before UE scored a pair to tie it up.  The Salukis retook the lead and extended it to 18-15.

That is when Evansville made its move.  With Chloe Cline doing the serving, UE scored six in a row to take the lead for good.  Cardona added three kills during the rally while Angelica Gonzalez added two late kills to clinch the first set.

Set 2 – UE 25, SIU 17

Another nice start saw Evansville score the opening three tallies as Ruff added her second ace of the night.  SIU got within a pair at 8-6 before Cline picked up a pair of kills as the UE advantage grew to 14-7.

Thing went Evansville’s way from there as the squad cruised to a 25-17 win to take a 2-0 match lead.

Set 3 – SIU 25, UE 19

After UE sored the opening point, the Salukis jumped in front by a 6-3 tally.  After the Aces made it a 2-point game at 8-6, SIU slowly built a commanding 19-11 advantage.  Evansville closed slightly, but the Salukis forced a fourth set.

Set 4 – SIU 25, UE 22

SIU had the early momentum, taking an 11-6 lead out of the gate.  Steele helped the Aces close the gap as a well-placed kill made it a 13-10 Saluki lead.  Following a 2-0 spurt by SIU, the Aces stormed back.  Evansville scored the next four as Cardona and Steele assisted on a block to get back within one.

Three in a row by SIU got them back on track and they would once again go up by five.  Maddie Hawkins registered an ace to cut the deficit to 23-21.  That is as close as the Aces would get before the Salukis extended the match to a decisive 5^th set.

Set 5 – UE 15, SIU 8

Cardona’s huge night continued as four early kills resulted in a 6-3 Evansville lead.  Gonzalez also picked up her 10^th kill during the early stretch.  After the Salukis closed within a point, it was the 37^th kill of the match for Cardona that gave UE its largest lead at 12-8.

It was all Evansville from there as the Aces completed the set with a 15-8 win to earn their second MVC win of the season.  On Saturday, the Aces face Missouri State at 5 p.m.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams closed out the 2024 regular season Friday morning at the 2024 Angel Mounds Invitational hosted by the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville.

The Trailblazers ended the regular season on a high note in a large field of four-year schools, including many NCAA Division I teams competing.

The morning began with the Men’s 8k race, where VU freshman Anis Abdaoui (Kairouan, Tunisia) led the way for the Blue and Gold, finishing with a time of 25:18.2 and taking 31st place overall.

Freshman Kelvin Kipsang (Kapsabet, Kenya) was the second Trailblazer to cross the finish line, ending his race with a time of 26:00.5 and a 67th place finish.

Sophomores Tanner Spence (Carmi, Ill.) and Cody Noel (Hebron, Ind.) were the next Vincennes runners to place, with Spence finishing 95th overall with a time of 26:31.1 and Noel close behind at 26:43.3 in 107th place overall.

Sophomore Caden Hostetler (LaGrange, Ind.) rounded out the Vincennes scoring on the day with a final time of 26:54.1 in 119th place overall.

Freshman Lane Connaway (Carmi, Ill.) and sophomore Nathan Whitehead (Vincennes, Ind.) were the next Trailblazers across the finish line, with Connaway posting a time of 27:31.0 and Whitehead ending at 27:42.8.

Freshmen Stephen Hershberger (Fowler, Ind.) and Rylan Mullins (Greenwood, Ind.) finished with a time of 27:46.6 for Hershberger and 28:01.8 for Mullins.

Sophomore Bryaun Manuel (East St. Louis, Ill.) and freshman Alex Kwizera (Indianapolis, Ind.) were next across the line with Manual finishing with a time of 28:07.0 and 29:06.2 for Kwizera.

Freshmen Jeremy Mendez (Velpen, Ind.) and Dakoda Greci (Danville, Ind.) were the final Trailblazers under the 30 minute mark, with Mendez posting a time of 29:16.7 and 29:26.5 for Greci.

Sophomore Max Pendley (French Lick, Ind.) and freshman Tucker Henson (Louisville, Ky.) were neck and neck at the end, with Pendley finishing just ahead of Henson with a time of 30:25.4 and 30:26.1 for Henson.

Freshman Hayden Kler (Hillsboro, Ind.) was the final VU men’s team runner across the line, closing out the race for Vincennes with a time of 30:44.2.

The Trailblazer men’s team finished 10th overall, ahead of NCAA Division I program Austin Peay, with a total of 279 points.

“For our last race of the regular season, we finally had some great running conditions,” VU Head Cross Country Coach Tyler Steigenga said. “The races were in the mid-50s with little wind.”

“Anis led the way for the men, starting out very conservative through the first mile and moving up through the field to finish as a solid first runner for us,” Steigenga added. “Kelvin bounced back nicely from last race with a minute PR, just missing getting under the 26 minute barrier. Tanner had a big breakthrough as well, with a 24 second PR and running his best time of the season by a minute and a half.”

“Cody had an off day as our fourth runner, finishing just off his season’s best,” Steigenga said. “He’s capable of a lot more than he’s shown this season. Cody has a big breakthrough coming a Nationals. Caden rounded out the top five with a 29 second PR and was the fifth VU runner under 27 minutes.”

“Lane came through as our sixth man, after missing last meet with an injury,” Steigenga added. “He bounced back well and ran one of the most even races of the day with only a five second difference between each of his mile splits. Nate rounded out the top seven with an eight second PR.”

“Following Nathan, seven of the next nine VU runners finished with a PR, Stephen, Rylan, Bryaun, Alex, Jeremy, Dakoda and Tucker,” Steigenga said. “Overall 13 out of 16 of the VU men ran their personal bests today.”

The day on the course was closed out with the Women’s 6k race, where VU was once again led by freshman Sarra Belgacem (Tunis, Tunisia) who crossed the line with a final time of 24:08.2 for a 72nd place finish overall.

Sophomore Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind.) was the second VU women’s team runner across the line, finishing with a time of 25:16.0 in 100th place overall.

Freshmen Allie Black (Lynn, Ind.) and Alexis Hale (Evansville, Ind.) were the next VU runners to finish, with Black posting a time of 26:07.2 and Hale finishing with a time of 26:18.2.

The final VU women’s team scorer was sophomore Jasmyn Self (Casey, Ill.) who crossed the line with a time of 26:45.5 in 125th place overall.

Freshman Melina Loudermilk (Bridgeport, Ill.) closed out the day for the Trailblazers on the course with a final time of 29:15.7.

The Vincennes women’s team placed 14th overall as a team with a total of 390 points.

“The women also had a great meet as well,” Steigenga said. “Sarra led the team again with a new 6k PR. Adi ran a very even race and closed well to finish as our number two runner. Both Sarra and Adi ran faster through 5k of the 6k today than their 5k race two weeks ago.”

“Allie was a bit back of where she normally runs, but finished in the top three for the team again,” Steigenga added. “Alexis ran great in her first 6k of the year after missing the first one from sickness earlier in the year. She came through 5k of the 6k today faster than her 5k PR from last year. Jasmyn continued a streak of good races and finished well as our fifth runner, just a few seconds off her 6k PR from last year.”

“Melina ran a very conservative race as it was her first competition of the season after being on crutches for three weeks in August due to an injury,” Steigenga said. “She ran a very smart race and slowly moved up to finish her first 6k.”

The Trailblazers will now shift their attention to the postseason, which begins for VU Thursday, Oct. 24 when Vincennes heads to the 2024 NJCAA Region 24 Cross Country Championships in Normal. Ill.

The VU teams will then head to Richmond, Va. Saturday, Nov. 9 for the NJCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships, followed by the Half Marathon Championships Tuesday, Nov. 12, also being held in Richmond, Va.

“Both teams did great today,” Steigenga said. “We have the potential to finish higher as a team at Nationals than we have in a long time. It was very rewarding to run some great times today after struggling through some difficult racing conditions earlier in the year. We could have gotten frustrated at not having the times that reflect our training but we didn’t. Everyone trusted the process and kept working and were rewarded today with a lot of great performances.”