Trailblazers pass first road test of the season in Region 24 sweep at Shawnee

ULLIN, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer volleyball team hit the road for the first time during the 2022 regular season and came away with a three-set sweep over Region 24 opponent Shawnee 25-6, 25-13, 25-11.

This matchup is one of VU’s longest road trips of the season, with the Blazers needing to not only battle a three-hour bus ride, but also a time change and a change in location with the match being played at Century High School in Ullin.

Vincennes grabbed control of the opening set quickly, jumping out to a 14-3 advantage over the Saints.

After a 3-0 scoring run by host Shawnee, the Trailblazers responded back to close out the set on an 11-0 scoring run of their own behind some impressive serving by freshman Tuana Turhan (Ankara, Turkey).

Set two began more as a back-and-forth battle before VU managed to open a 14-6 lead midway through the set.

The two teams traded points until sophomore Kaley Roush (Shoals, Ind.) stepped up to serve and came away with a 4-0 scoring run to take set two 25-13.

VU looked to close out the sweep in a big way in set three with sophomore Josephine Mulligan (Saint John, Ind.) giving the Blazers a 16-3 lead after a 10-0 scoring run.

Shawnee attempted to battle back into the game but were unable to cut into the deficit as Vincennes came away with the 25-11 set win and the 3-0 match sweep.

“Tonight we were dealing with some challenging circumstances,” VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. “Changing location and changing the time, making this match even later for us after a three-hour trip. Everything about today was a challenge and serves as sort of a ‘welcome to the season’ moment for us.”

“I feel like we handled it all pretty well overall,” Sien added. “I think our warmups were so-so. Normally you can tell how a team will play based on their warmups, but we were able to turn it around because we definitely played well during the match. It could have been much worse. We could have been out there for much longer than we needed to be.”

The Trailblazers were led offensively by freshman Audrey Buis (Franklin, Ind.) who finished the night with eight kills and an outstanding .600 hitting percentage.