No. 11 Taylor Eager to Take On RV Campbellsville in NAIA Opening Round

Volleyball | Thu, Nov. 17, 2022 at 2:35 PM
| by Jake Chipka

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UPLAND, Ind. – The No. 11 Taylor (30-5) volleyball team has advanced to the NAIA National Tournament for the eighth time in program history, as the Trojans are slated to host RV Campbellsville (21-6) in an NAIA Opening Round matchup inside Odle Arena on Saturday, November 19, at 7:00 pm.

In their previous seven national appearances, the Trojans have posted a record of 12-17 with their last appearance coming in 2011. In that 2011 season, the Trojans won the regular-season Crossroads League Championship and went on to defeat Mid-South Conference Champion, Lindsey Wilson, three-sets-to-none in the opening round.

A similar script seems to be unfolded for Taylor in 2022, as the Crossroads League champion Trojans are set to host the Mid-South Conference regular-season champions, RV Campbellsville. 2022 marks the third national tournament appearance for Campbellsville, with its last appearance coming in 2017 when the Tigers lost to Texas Wesleyan in five sets.

Taylor and Campbellsville each boast a pair of 2022 conference player-of-the-year awards. On the Campbellsville side, sophomore right-side hitter, Molly Shannon, was dubbed the Mid-South Conference Player of the Year, while teammate, Paige Herrick, won Mid-South Conference Setter of the Year.

Shannon averaged the league’s fourth-best kills-per-set with a mark of 3.65, while maintaining a hitting percentage of .222 alongside an average of 2.87 digs-per-set. Herrick, meanwhile, posted the league’s fourth-best mark of 9.21 assists-per-set in tandem with 3.14 digs-per-set.

Cierra Merrick and Andrea Laboy also received First-Team All-Mid-South Conference honors, as Merrick posted 2.61 kills-per-set with a hit percentage of .241 and Laboy tallied the league’s third-best mark of 4.79 digs-per-set. McKenna Barfield, then, earned honorable-mention honors while leading the league with an average of 1.19 blocks-per-set.

For Taylor, senior right-side hitter, Ryan Czerniak, boasts the honor of Crossroads League Player of the Year, while senior setter, Kacy Bragg, is now a two-time recipient of the Crossroads League Setter-of-the-Year award.

Czerniak enters the national tournament with a mark of 3.65 kills-per-set, alongside the nation’s top hitting percentage of .400. Bragg, meanwhile, owns the nation’s seventh-best season average…