TAYLOR TOPS GOSHEN IN FIVE SETS IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE
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UPLAND, Ind. – It took five sets but the Taylor volleyball team collected a victory and secured a home game in the opening round of the Crossroads League tournament with a win over Goshen in the regular season finale on Friday night.
Taylor (20-15, 10-8 CL) appeared to be headed for a sweep with dominant victories in each of the first two sets on Friday night. The Trojans rolled to a 25-13 win in the opening set and continued the dominance with a 25-14 triumph in the second set.
A sweep seemed likely when Taylor scored each of the first seven points in the third set before Goshen finally got on the board with three straight points. The Trojans pushed the advantage to 17-9 before the Maple Leafs rallied with an 11-3 run to tie the set at 20-20. The Trojans managed to force a game point with a 24-23 lead but Goshen scored three straight points to shock TU with a 26-24 win to extend the match.
The Maple Leafs rode the momentum to a 25-20 win in the fourth set to send the contest into a fifth set. The Trojans jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the decisive fifth set by reeling off five straight points punctuated by a pair of kills from senior Kayla Springer. The Trojans never allowed Goshen to narrow the margin to less than three and eventually closed out the game with a kill by senior Rachel Bouma for a 15-9 game-five win.
Freshman Amanda Adams paced a quartet of Trojans with double figure kills with 15 kills while Springer added 14 kills. Junior Addy Bailey tallied 13 terminations with Bouma adding 11 kills and four blocks. Junior Haley Harrell coordinated the Taylor attack with 45 assists and added a team-high 27 digs while sophomore Samantha Korn tallied 22 digs.
Taylor finished the match with a .181 hitting percentage as TU tallied 59 kills and 27 hitting errors in 177 attacks. Taylor limited the Maple Leafs to a .107 hitting percentage as the TU front line collected eight team blocks.
With the victory Taylor secured a fourth place finish in the Crossroads League standings and will host the quarterfinal round of the Crossroads League tournament on Saturday, Nov. 4. Taylor’s opponent will be determined next week when league play concludes. For the latest information on Taylor’s opponent and the game time for Saturday’s quarterfinal contest stay tuned to athletics.taylor.edu.
