SIOUX CITY, Iowa – A memorable 2022 season came to an end Friday evening, as the No. 11 Trojans (31-7) lost in three sets to No. 4 Corban (31-4) to conclude competition within Pool E of the NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championship Pool Play.
Corban will now advance to the national tournament quarterfinals, which will commence tomorrow, December 3, in Sioux City, Iowa, while the Trojans will prepare for a trek home to Upland.
Friday’s line score read 25-23, 25-21, 25-16, with Taylor being swept in consecutive matches for the first time this season. For the second-straight night, the Trojans posted a team hitting percentage of lower than .200, as Taylor hit a mark of .130 on 100 total attacks against Corban.
A significant factor in Taylor’s unusually low hitting percentage was a relentless blocking brigade enacted by the Warriors, who tallied 10.0 team blocks throughout the three-set match.
Taylor, meanwhile, combined for just 4.0 team blocks, two of which came at the hands of Grace Ieremia, who recorded four block assists. Ieremia finished the 2022 campaign with an incredible 143 total block assists, which matches the single-season total of Anne Lee in 1992 for the third-best mark in program history.
Ieremia also slammed seven kills throughout Friday’s match, while maintaining a percentage of .417, though fellow mid-hitter, Jaylynn Dunsmore, led the Trojan offensive attack with a team-high nine kills.
Taylor’s duo at mid-hitter combined for 16 of TU’s 34 total kills, while Ryan Czerniak and Arlanda Faulkner each posted five, and Kacy Bragg and Anna Frey each hit four. Bragg also dished out 29 assists, increasing her season-total to the nation’s second-best mark of 1,482.
Bragg finished her senior season with an astounding 4,222-career assists, which is good for fifth all-time in program history.
Unfortunately, the TU offense failed to click on all cylinders against Corban on Friday evening, though the Trojans put forth a strong performance in the opening set.
After trailing 2-1 early in the set, Taylor commanded the lead the rest of the way, that is until Corban manufactured set-point with the score reading 24-23. Along the way, Taylor outhit Corban 15-kills-to-11, which nurtured a three-point Taylor lead at five different stages throughout the set. But four team blocks by the Warriors contributed to nine Taylor attack errors, which in the end proved difficult to overcome. Corban eventually stole the opening set with a 6-1 run, after Taylor had…
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