Trojans Stumble on Day One of Labor Day Classic

Volleyball | Fri, Sep. 2, 2022 at 11:45 PM
| by Jake Chipka

BELLEVUE, Neb. – The No. 18 Taylor (6-2) volleyball team took the court on Friday for day one of the Labor Day Classic, a day on which the Trojans experienced their first taste of defeat in the 2022 campaign.

The 25-team field of competition presently gathered at Bellevue University is chock-full-of talent, including the No. 15 team in the land, Central Methodist (4-1), against whom the Trojans squared up in their first match of the day.

Taylor dropped each of the match’s three sets, frustratingly unable to nurture momentum throughout. While the Trojans were fueled to a 6-0 start to the season by a strong hitting percentage and staunch blocking ability on defense, the season-script was flipped on Friday against Central Methodist.

The Trojan offense accumulated 26 errors throughout the three-set match, limiting its team hitting percentage to a troublesome mark of just .058 while failing to record a single block on the defensive end. In contrast, Taylor entered play on Friday with a team season-average hitting percentage of .237, alongside an even more impressive block-per-set mark of 2.67, each of which, however, took a serious hit after Friday’s three-set loss to No. 15 Central Methodist.

With one tough matchup in the books, Taylor then took the court for a second against RV Ottawa (4-4), to whom the Trojans fell in five sets.

After dropping the first set 25-13, Taylor fought back and won the following two, energized along the way by senior right-side hitter, Ryan Czerniak, who finished the match with 22 kills. Czerniak now leads the Crossroads League in both kills and hitting percentage, totaling 125 kills this season while maintaining a percentage of .442.

On the defensive end, a trio of Trojans worked to fend off the Ottawa attack by recording 15-or-more digs, including freshman, McKaylah Flagle, alongside seniors, Kacy Bragg and Nikki Parrett.

In the end, though, Taylor could not overcome its offensive woes, as seven attack errors in the decisive fifth set paved the way for Ottawa to walk away with the win.

No. 18 Taylor (6-2) is back in action on Saturday, September 3, when the Trojans take the court for day two of the Labor Day Classic with matchups against McPherson (5-3) and RV Grand View (1-6).