No. 11 Taylor Volleyball Sweeps USF and Improves to 13-0 Inside Odle

No. 11 Taylor Sweeps SF and Improves to 13-0 Inside Odle

UPLAND, Ind. – A great multitude of Taylor faithful gathered inside Odle Arena Wednesday evening for No. 11 Taylor’s (25-5, 14-2 CL) final home match of the regular season, a match in which TU improved to a perfect 13-0 at home while defeating Saint Francis (14-18, 7-9 CL) in three sets.

After falling to Saint Francis in five sets on September 21, Taylor was eager to flip the script on Wednesday evening, and Anna Frey led the charge early. Throughout a first set in which TU won 25-18, Frey slammed an impressive eight kills, including Taylor’s first three kills of the match.

Saint Francis did not appreciate the favor, however, as the Cougars jumped to an early 7-1 lead, which quickly morphed into a 14-6 edge midway through set two. Behind the energy of its home fans, though, Taylor managed to turn the tables on its guest by ripping off an 8-2 run of its own to even the score at 22 apiece.

A pair of Cougar attack errors and a Kacy Bragg kill then sealed the deal for TU in what proved to be an unforeseen 25-23 second-set win. Along the way, eight Trojan block assists provided a healthy dose of comeback power, four of which belonged to sophomore mid-hitter, Grace Ieremia.

The third and final set of the match unfolded in a highly competitive manner, so much so that the set required a bit of extra play. For a brief moment in time, Taylor worked a four-point lead, though the majority of the set was played with the teams within two points of each other.

Once again, the score read 22 apiece late in the set, then 23 apiece, and then 24 apiece, before a Cougar attack error and an Arlanda Faulkner kill brought the crowd inside Odle Arena to its feet in celebration of Taylor’s latest win.

Taylor has now won six matches in a row for the third different time this season, while only dropping a single set in its most-recent streak of victory.

As a team, the Trojans finished Wednesday’s competition with 13 total blocks, which marked their third-highest single match total of 2022 and the eighth time they have surpassed 10 team blocks in a match.

TU is now tied for the third-most total team blocks in the nation with 252. While Ieremia led the Trojans yet again in the block category with eight, Frey posted a match-high 14 kills against Saint Francis while freshman libero, McKaylah Flagle, recorded a team-high 16 digs.

With Wednesday’s win in stow, Taylor has secured one of the top two spots in the Crossroads League Tournament set to begin on Saturday, November 5, meaning that the TU faithful will have the opportunity to enjoy the Trojans play at least one more time inside Odle in 2022.

Before the tournament commences, however, No. 11 Taylor (25-5, 14-2 CL) has a pair of matches remaining with a Crossroads League Regular-Season Championship on the line. First up for Taylor is Goshen (2-29, 0-16), scheduled for Friday evening, October 28, at 7:00 pm, followed by a 3:00 pm Saturday matchup with No. 18 Marian (21-3, 13-3 CL).