TU Celebrates Senior Night with a Sweep of Huntington

Volleyball | Fri, Oct. 21, 2022 at 9:30 PM
| by Jake Chipka

UPLAND, Ind. – On a night when a gracious gathering of TU’s most faithful celebrated six senior members of the Taylor volleyball community, the No. 12 Trojans (23-5, 12-2 CL) swept the Huntington Foresters (13-15, 6-8 CL) three sets to none, maintaining their grasp on first place in the Crossroads League.

Taylor’s 2022-2023 class of seniors now boasts a remarkable record of 25-1 in its last 26 matches inside Odle Arena, including a perfect 12-0 mark in 2022. Along the way, Taylor snapped a five-match Forester win streak and extended its own to four sweeps in a row.

Five different Trojans posted five-or-more kills, including senior right-side hitter, Ryan Czerniak, who led the way with a match-high 10 kills. Meanwhile, Anna Frey scattered the scorebook with nine kills, 13 digs, four blocks and a pair of aces.

Mid-hitter, Grace Ieremia, combined six kills and five total blocks, while senior setter, Kacy Bragg, compiled 31 assists alongside seven digs and five kills of her own.

All in all, Taylor outhit the Foresters 38 to 24 in the kill column while recording 12 fewer errors than Huntington throughout the match, all of which crafted a recipe for success, especially in the first two sets.

Taylor took set one by a score of 25-13, a period of play in which Frey tallied four kills, four digs and a pair of solo blocks. An early 12-2 TU run nurtured a 14-4 Taylor lead, which soon ended in an opening-set win in which Taylor posted a team hitting percentage of .296.

Set two then unfolded in a 25-11 Taylor win, fueled along the way by 14 team kills, including four apiece from Bragg and fellow senior, Arlanda Faulkner. Taylor bookended the second set with a pair of momentous runs, including a 9-2 run to start and a 10-2 rally that ended the set with a sneaky slam from Bragg.

Huntington offered its best performance in the third and final set, however, the only set in which the Foresters posted more kills than errors. Huntington worked an early 8-6 lead, which forced a Taylor timeout, and then managed to hold the lead until the score read 21-20. Taylor ripped off a 5-2 run to steal the set, though, thanks in part to a pair of Czerniak kills.

Czerniak continues to lead the nation with a .421 hitting percentage for the season. Taylor’s senior sensation is the only player in the nation with a hitting percentage greater than .380, and she has now surpassed that…