SEASON ENDS FOR TU IN CROSSROADS LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS
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UPLAND, Ind. – A series of hitting and serving errors proved costly for the Taylor volleyball team on Saturday as the Trojans saw their season come to an end with a Crossroads League tournament quarterfinals loss to Saint Francis.
Taylor (20-16) committed a season-high 42 hitting errors and ten service errors on Saturday afternoon as the Cougars avenged a pair of regular season losses to TU with a four-set victory inside Odle Arena. The Trojans struggled to find an offensive rhythm, finishing the match with a .065 hitting percentage after tallying 55 kills and 42 errors in 200 attacks.
Saint Francis (13-20) surged ahead from the opening serve, building a 7-2 advantage in the beginning stages of the opening set. The Trojans slowly clawed back and eventually took the lead at 17-16 but the Cougars responded with four straight points to regain the lead, eventually collecting a 25-23 victory in the afternoon’s first set.
Neither team led by more than three points in the second set and both teams fought off at least one set point before the Trojans collected a 29-27 win with seniors Rachel Bouma and Kayla Springer blocking a USF attack for the set’s final point.
Saint Francis got off to another fast start in the third set, amassing a 6-2 advantage before the Trojans came storming back to regain the lead at 15-14. Saint Francis responded with a 5-1 run to take a 19-16 lead then the Trojans unleashed four straight points, including back-to-back aces by Samantha Korn to pull ahead 20-19. The teams traded points until USF’s Ava Kunkler registered back-to-back kills to collect a 27-25 win.
The Cougars rode the momentum of the set three victory into the fourth set, never allowing Taylor to take the lead en route to a 25-17 win to close out the match.
Bouma led the Trojans in her final game in the Purple and Gold with 13 kills and a .300 hitting percentage. Junior Addy Bailey also added 13 kills for TU while sophomore Hannah Paul finished with eight kills and freshman Amanda Adams added seven terminations for TU.
Four seniors played their final game for TU on Saturday with Laura Craig, Kayla Springer, Becca Gerig, and Rachel Bouma each finishing out their careers. The quartet finishes their Taylor career with 81 wins and 59 losses over the last four seasons.