Red Wolves - IU East

DEFIANCE, Ohio - The birthday girl brought some nice gifts home from the Defiance College Invitational on Sept. 11.

Indiana University East freshman Allison Nicley (Lebanon, Ind./Western Boone High School) celebrated her 19th birthday by earning MVP honors as the IU East volleyball team won the team title.

Nicley collected 48 kills, 30 digs, the MVP award and a dozen birthday roses from her mother over the course of the tournament.

The Red Wolves are 15-0 after winning their third tournament title of the season.

"Awesome," was Nicley's assessment of IU East's first four weeks of the season.

"We need to keep pushing and working hard. We can get even more wins if we keep working hard."

The Red Wolves defeated Lourdes College 25-17, 25-18, 25-15 in the title match on Sept. 11.

IU East completed pool play with a 20-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-15 win against Defiance earlier Sept. 11.

"Finally! We pulled it together today and played two good back-to-back matches," said IU East coach Charlie Brown. "The energy that wasn't there (in two matches Sept. 10) was there today.

"Today we had to go back and prove to ourselves all over again that we could play quality volleyball, and that's what we did."

Sophomore setter Lauren Crump (Indianapolis, Ind./Scecina Memorial High School) and junior right side hitter Paige Lay (Bloomington/Normal, Ill./Parkland College) joined Nicley on the all-tournament team.

Nicley put away a team-best 30 kills on Sept. 11, including a season-high 17 in the comeback win against Defiance (1-6).

Brown said the Game 1 loss against Defiance proved a blessing in disguise.

"It was actually a good set to lose," Brown said. "A good wakeup call. We had to realize (Defiance) was stepping up and we had to match their enthusiasm, and we did a good job of doing that."

The Red Wolves totaled a season-best 12 blocks in the championship match against Lourdes (9-8), a first-year NAIA program.

"Today we had a different attitude, a different mindset," Crump said. "We knew we had to step up and we did."

The Red Wolves will play their home opener Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. against Indiana Wesleyan University. IU East plays its home matches at Seton Catholic High School.

"We're still pinching ourselves (over the 15-0 start)," Brown said. "We have yet to figure out how good we really are. But that time is coming, and we are excited for that challenge."

Click here for the IU East-Lourdes box score

Click here for the IU East-Defiance box score

BROKEN RECORD FOR BREEZY

IU East sophomore Breezy Strete (Troy, Ohio/Troy High School) broke IU East's career record for kills during the Defiance College Invitational.

Strete now has 629 career kills at IU East.

The previous record was 595 established by Amy Stultz in 2008.