No. 11 Trojans Secure Their Spot in Crossroads League Championship

Volleyball | Wed, Nov. 9, 2022 at 10:20 PM
| by Jake Chipka

UPLAND, Ind. – The Crossroads League Tournament Semifinal round commenced on Wednesday evening, when the No. 11 Taylor Trojans (29-5) defeated RV Bethel (21-11) in four sets to secure a place in the Crossroads League Tournament Championship match for the first time since 2014.

Wednesday’s competition unfolded in front of an electric Odle Arena crowd, as nearly one thousand TU faithful donned purple and grey in their clothes, hair, and even on their face. The Trojans were sure not to disappoint, as Taylor improved to a perfect 15-0 inside Odle Arena in 2022 and extended its home win-streak to 24-consecutive matches dating back to September of 2021.

Taylor and Bethel took the court in the semifinal round with the season series even at one win apiece. Wednesday’s competition unraveled in a similarly even-matched manner. By match end, the team total point differential was a mere four points, with Taylor owning the advantage.

The final line score read 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, and 25-20, as Taylor went on to steal the season series against the Pilots. Junior outside hitter, Anna Frey, paced the Trojan attack with 16 kills, five of which came in the first set.

After a series of back and forth scoring, Taylor worked a 21-13 point edge over Bethel in the opening set, though Bethel bounced back with a 9-2 run to cut the TU lead to just one, 23-22. A bad Pilot set brought the TU faithful to their feet for set point, however, which was soon scratched into the scorebook in the shape of a Ryan Czerniak kill.

Bethel controlled much of the second set, though, as Taylor failed to secure a single lead throughout the period. The score read 19-18 late in the set, but the Pilots finished with a 6-1 run to even the match at one win apiece.

The Trojan offensive attack was boiling under the surface up until this point in the match, as Taylor managed just 11 team kills in each of the first and second sets. In the third set, the pressure burst, and Taylor exploded for a mammoth 22 team kills in tandem with just five errors.

Grace Ieremia unleashed five kills throughout the third set, while Frey and Czerniak each contributed five of their own. All the while, Kacy Bragg racked up 18 assists throughout the third period of play alone as the Trojans took the set 25-22.

Behind the energy of its home crowd, Taylor went on to control much of the flow of the fourth set, trailing by…