Adams Smashes 28 Kills in Five-Set Win Over RV Cougars
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UPLAND, Ind. – Amanda Adams stole the show on Wednesday night in Odle Arena, registering 28 kills and 22 digs in the best performance of her career and Taylor won against RV Saint Francis in a thrilling five-set affair.
Adams set the tone early with nine kills and eight digs in the opening set and never relented, adding six more kills in the second and ending the third with a total of 21 kills and just two errors heading into the fourth.
Adams later ended the fifth set with back-to-back kills to seal the match and finished with a .290 hitting percentage on 28 kills with eight errors in 69 swings. Along with setting a career-high with 28 kills, the outside hitter posted a personal-best with 22 digs for her first 20-20 match with the Trojans.
The junior outside hitter had plenty of help, with Julia Pomerenke posting 14 kills, a .344 percentage and three blocks and Grace Isaacs closed with 12 kills and two blocks. Kacy Bragg finished one kill shy of her third triple-double, ending with nine kills, 30 assists, 10 digs, three blocks and one ace, with her setter counterpart, Abby DeSimpelare, adding 28 assists and 12 digs. Samantha Korn chipped in with 19 digs and eight assists.
As a unit, Taylor logged 69 kills for its highest single-match total since August 29, 2014 and slammed down 12 more kills than Saint Francis (15-8, 7-4 CL), while hitting at a .203 clip to USF’s .174 mark.
Taylor hit a crisp .318 in the opening set but still fell by a 25-23 mark, before bouncing back with 25-17 and 25-22 victories in the second and third. USF battled back with a 25-16 win in the fourth to force a decisive fifth set.
The Cougars tried to continue their surge into the fifth with a quick 2-0 lead but the Trojans scored the next three and the teams went back-and-forth until USF opened an 8-5 edge and held the three-point lead again at 11-8.
Kills from Pomerenke and Bragg bought Taylor back to within a point and a Nikki Parrett kill pushed TU to a 12-12 tie. The two sides split the next two rallies, before Adams closed the night how she started, finding the court on back-to-back swings to secure the 15-13 win and take the match.
Taylor (16-12, 6-5 CL) will return to action on Wednesday, October 9, when it plays at Huntington (12-10, 5-6 CL) in a 7:00 pm start.