Taylor Closes Showing at Hope International Tourney
FULLERTON, Calif. – Taylor dropped a pair of contests on Thursday during its final day at the Hope International Tournament. The Trojans fell in straight sets to La Sierra in the day’s opener, before dropping a five-set thriller to Benedictine-Mesa in the nightcap.
TU struggled to find its touch in the first match, filling the stat sheets with 41 total errors to account for over half of La Sierra’s (3-1) points in the match. The Trojans swatted 26 hitting errors and 10 service errors, while committing five receiving errors in the 28-26, 25-19, 25-19 defeat.
Kacy Bragg played well in the loss with six kills and a .385 attack percentage, to go with 14 assists and three of Taylor’s seven blocks. Samantha Korn also added 15 digs.
The struggles carried into the start of the evening affair against Benedictine-Mesa (1-3), as the Trojans fell in an early deficit with 25-17 and 25-11 setbacks.
Taylor rallied back by hitting .209 in the third set and .361 in the fourth to score 28-26 and 25-20 victories, but fell behind early in the finale and dropped the contest with a 15-8 score in the fifth.
Ryan Czerniak and Julia Pomerenke spearheaded the comeback, as Czerniak posted six kills in the third set and Pomerenke slammed six in 10 tries in the fourth. The duo ended the contest with 22 combined kills, while each hitting over .365 in the outing.
Bragg continued to impress with 26 assists, nine digs and eight kills, while Korn scooped 25 digs and Grace Isaacs tallied six blocks. Abby DeSimpelare and Amanda Adams each posted double-doubles in the five-set match.
Taylor closed the HIU Tournament with one win in four showings and will return to action on August 23 and 24 when it competes in Olathe, Kansas at the Mid-America Nazarene Tournament.