Grace Edges Trojans in Crossroads League Opener

Box Score

WINONA LAKE, Ind. – The Taylor volleyball team fell to Grace in a five-set thriller on Wednesday in the Crossroads League opener for both teams.

The Trojans (3-2, 0-1 CL) jumped out to a quick 5-1 advantage in the opening set with the Lancers and never trailed during the opening stanza en route to a 25-15 victory but Grace (6-3, 1-0 CL) rallied to win the second and third sets 26-24 and 25-23, respectively to apply the pressure on TU.

Taylor responded with another quick start in the fourth set as seniors Rachel Bouma and Becca Gerig combined for a trio of early kills to propel TU to a 5-1 advantage. Grace trimmed the Taylor lead to one at 19-18 before sophomore Callie Drage stymied a Grace attack with a block to give Taylor a cushion and allow the Trojans to force a fifth set with a 25-21 victory.

It was the Lancers who jumped out to the quick start in the decisive fifth set with Grace taking advantage of a pair of Taylor miscues en route to a 4-0 lead to open the set. A kill by Gerig pulled Taylor to within one at 6-5 but the Lancers rattled off nine of the next 11 points to pull away for a 15-7 fifth set win.

Drage paced the Taylor offensive attack with a career-high 18 kills while Gerig added 13 kills and 13 digs. The Taylor offense finished the night with a .194 attack percentage after amassing 55 kills and 24 hitting errors in 160 attempts.

Freshman Brooke Syswerda dished out 24 assists while junior Haley Harrell added 22 assists and 13 digs for TU. Junior Jamie Scherb led the Taylor back row with 14 digs.

The Trojans return to action this weekend with four matches scheduled over Friday and Saturday at the Indiana Wesleyan tournament.