CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer volleyball team kicked off their two-day weekend tournament at Parkland College Friday afternoon with a two-game split.
VU began the day with a five-set thriller win over Lincoln Land College 17-25, 25-15, 18-25, 25-23, 15-12 before coming back to close out the day against Kirkwood Community College, falling 17-25, 14-25, 25-17, 19-25.
The Trailblazers got off to a slow start at Parkland Friday, falling behind early against the Loggers 12-4.
VU would answer with a pair of scoring runs in the set but could only manage to cut the deficit to five at Lincoln Land pulled away and took set one 25-17.
Vincennes turned the tables on Lincoln Land in the second set, with VU using a 7-0 scoring run, aided by four aces by freshman Tuana Turhan (Ankara, Turkey), the Blazers jumped out to a 13-4 lead.
Lincoln Land battled back to cut the lead down to just two, before Vincennes rallied back to take the second set 25-15 and evening the match at 1-1.
Set three was Lincoln Land’s turn to grab an early lead, jumping out to a 12-5 advantage. Vincennes attempted to battle back into the game, but the Loggers held strong to take set three 25-18.
Set four was more of a back-and-forth battle with VU holding a 19-11 lead, before Lincoln Land closed the margin to 22-17.
Vincennes held set point at 24-18, before Lincoln Land went on a 5-0 scoring run. The Trailblazers were able to close out the set on the next point however, as set four went the distance with VU winning 25-23 and forcing a fifth set.
Lincoln Land took the early lead in the fifth set, with a 4-0 scoring run, before VU answered to tie the game with a 4-0 run of their own.
Lincoln Land held a narrow one-point lead before VU closed out the set and the match on a 4-0 scoring run to take set five 15-12 and the match 3-2.
