HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The Vincennes University volleyball team made the long trip down to Alabama Friday morning to take part in the two-day Wallace State C.C. Fall Bash in Hanceville.
The Trailblazers had a tough first day but came away with a four-set win over Spartanburg Methodist 19-25, 25-15, 25-14, 28-26 before falling to host and No. 20-ranked Wallace State in five sets 25-22, 21-25, 18-25, 25-23, 12-15.
Vincennes opened the day on a hot start coming off of the six-hour bus ride against Spartanburg, jumping out to an early 1106 lead in set one.
Slowly the Pioneers battled back, tying the score and eventually taking the lead on their way to closing out set one on a 5-0 scoring run to finish 25-19.
VU got out to another early lead in the second set, holding a 14-6 lead. The Trailblazers would continue to build on this lead to a 10-point advantage before coming away with set two 25-15 and evening the match.
The Trailblazers kept riding this momentum into the pivotal third set where VU used a 5-0 scoring run by freshman libero Morgan Netcott (Montague, Mich.) to take a 19-11 lead before closing out the set 25-14 and taking a 2-1 match lead.
Set four was a back-and-forth battle, with the two teams trading leads several times on small scoring runs before Spartanburg took the lead at 25-24 and forced overtime. Vincennes would take the match after closing out the fourth set with three unanswered points 28-26.
“Firstly, I want to thank Coach Mike Misner and Coach Ariana Gentzler for coaching during these past two weeks when I wasn’t available,†VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. “They did an excellent job of keeping the team together. A lot of times you don’t hear about the Assistant Coaches and at this level most of the time they are part-time coaches who have other full-time jobs and responsibilities. I just want to give them credit for holding this team together during the middle of our season and a tough schedule.â€
“Today we had a really different lineup on the floor,†Sien added. “We were missing a couple of players but I always say, ‘I don’t have time to worry about who is not out there.’ I think it took us the first set to get used to the lineup changes. One example is Josephine Mulligan, who has been out for two weeks coming back, which allowed us to use Maecy Johnson as a hitter, which she is, we just haven’t used her as a hitter this season yet.â€
“But I told the team after the first set that I thought we played well, we just didn’t finish. We didn’t execute,†Sien said. “Obviously the team took that and believed that because the next two sets were in the teens. Even the fourth set was a challenge too. We lost the first set. Took care of business in two and three and all of a sudden here they come in set four and how do we react. That fourth set was another gut-check for us with our unfamiliar rotations and players either coming back or playing in new positions.â€
The Trailblazers were led offensively by freshman Paige Parlanti (Las Vegas, Nev.) who recorded her 11th double-double of the season with 21 kills and 14 digs, as well as a team high four aces and two blocks.
