BAILEY SPARKS TROJANS IN SWEEP OF MOUNT VERNON NAZARENE
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UPLAND, Ind. – Junior Addy Bailey provided the spark the Taylor volleyball team needed on Saturday as the Trojans cruised to a sweep of Mount Vernon Nazarene on Saturday afternoon inside Odle Arena.
Bailey tallied a game-high 12 kills in 26 swings to lead the Taylor offense as the Trojans snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Cougars in dominant fashion.
The Trojans (19-14, 9-7 CL) spotted MVNU the opening point of the contest then scored each of the next two points and never trailed again in the opening set as TU cruised to a 25-15 victory to start the game.
Taylor appeared to be headed for another lopsided victory in the second set as TU raced to a 4-0 advantage and eventually built a 10-5 lead. Mount Vernon Nazarene (18-14, 5-10 CL) responded with a 9-1 run to take a 14-11 lead before Taylor clawed its way back to a 17-17 tie on a kill by freshman Amanda Adams. Another kill by Adams along with terminations from senior Becca Gerig and sophomore Hannah Paul, coupled with a pair of errors for the Cougars allowed Taylor to take a 24-19 lead before Paul ended the set with a kill to give the Trojans a 25-20 victory.
Mount Vernon Nazarene opened the third set with a 3-1 lead but the Trojans came roaring back to build an 11-6 advantage thanks to a kill and an ace by senior Rachel Bouma along with a kill by Adams. The Cougars pulled to within one point at 12-11 before Bailey tallied back-to-back kills to spark a 4-0 run that pushed the TU advantage to 16-11. The Trojans never allowed the Cougars to threaten for the remainder of the set as TU cruised to a 25-16 win to close out the match.
The Trojans honored the four senior members of the TU squad prior to Saturday’s game and the quartet turned in some impressive performances. Bouma tallied seven kills in eight attempts to go along with four blocks while Kayla Springer added five kills and three blocks. Laura Craig recorded six digs. Gerig added five digs and an ace for the Trojans.
Sophomore Samantha Korn anchored the Taylor defense with a game-high 18 digs while junior Haley Harrell dished out 31 assists and added 13 digs. Adams added eight terminations in 31 swings for the Trojans.
The Trojans finished the match with 40 kills and 18 hitting errors in 108 attempts for a .204 hitting percentage while MVNU struggled to a .051 hitting percentage.
With the win the Trojans secured at least a fourth place finish in the Crossroads League regular season standings which guarantees Taylor will host the quarterfinals of the Crossroads League tournament on Saturday, November 4th.
The Trojans will head to Bethel on Wednesday night to face the Pilots at 7:00 pm before TU closes out the regular season on Friday night when TU hosts Goshen at 7:00 pm inside Odle Arena.