TU Volleyball Receives No. 19 Spot in the Land

Volleyball | Wed, Sep. 14, 2022 at 11:50 AM
| by Jake Chipka

NAIA Coaches’ Top-25 Poll

KANSAS CITY – The NAIA released its second Women’s Volleyball Coaches’ Top-25 Poll of the 2022 season on Wednesday, in which the Taylor Trojans (12-3, 1-0 CL) received the No. 19 rank in the nation.

After starting the season 6-0, the Trojans have gone 6-3 since the first national poll of the regular season was released two weeks ago. Seven of those nine matches, however, came against top-25 or RV opponents, four of whom Taylor defeated. Thus, the Trojans fell just one spot in the national rankings since the last poll.

Throughout its most-recent nine-match stretch against such fierce competition, Taylor has averaged 13.3 kills-per-set, a notch above its season average of 12.9. The reigning NAIA National Attacker of the Week, Ryan Czerniak, has played a huge role in fueling the Trojan attack and keeping the Trojans in the top-25.

In Taylor’s last nine matches, Czerniak has posted a pair of 20-or-more-kill performances, bolstering an average of 4.34 kills-per-set. Even more impressive for Czerniak, however, is her precision with the attack, posting a hitting percentage of .407-or-higher in seven of Taylor’s most-recent nine matches.

Taylor’s fifth-year senior currently leads the nation in hitting percentage and sits second in kills, having accumulated a total of 232 this season while maintaining a hitting percentage of .458.

As a team, the Trojans rank second in the Crossroads League with an average of 12.87 kills-per-set, meanwhile they lead the league with 11.98 assists-per-set, thanks to TU setter, Kacy Bragg, and her league-leading average of 10.52 assists-per-set.

Bragg, Czerniak and the No. 19 Trojans (12-3, 1-0 CL) are back in action later Wednesday evening, when they take on Spring Arbor (9-3, 0-1 CL) in Michigan at 7:00 pm ET.