HUNTINGTON, Ind. – The Trojans fell in a tight four-set match against Huntington, in which no set was decided by less than three points, showing how even the squads were on Friday night.
The TU offense tallied 56 kills, three more than HU, but also had 31 errors, which was 11 more than the opposition.
Taylor battled throughout a tight first set, which saw many momentum swings that led to a 24-24 tie. Huntington (11-6, 2-4 CL) took the final two points on kills to secure the win and a 1-0 lead.
The Trojans bounced back to take the second set, 25-22, after trailing 16-13 earlier. A 6-0 run swung the momentum for Taylor, and after grabbing a 19-16 lead, the Trojans did not trail the rest of the way. Jaylynn Dunsmore was on fire during the second set, tallying seven kills without an error. The junior outside hitter totaled 14 kills during the match.
Huntington controlled the third set before Taylor went on a late 4-0 run, which forced a timeout with the score 23-20. The Foresters closed the set with a 25-22 victory.
The fourth set saw neither team take a lead of more than two until Huntington grabbed a 22-19 advantage, which forced a TU timeout. The Trojans were unable to overcome the deficit despite cutting the lead 23-22, falling 25-22.
Reagan Salzbrenner saw action in only the fourth set but took full advantage, gathering four kills on seven swings. Her namesake, Reagan Kleiman, was also efficient, tallying five kills on 15 swings without an error. The freshman middle hitter also notched four blocks, which is one shy of her season high.
Lindsay Springer continued her strong play as the director of the Trojan attack, piling up 47 assists throughout the match and nine digs. Springer now leads the NAIA in assists with 762, 38 more than her closest competitor.
RV Taylor (10-8, 1-5 CL) is back on the court on Saturday, September 23, against Crossroads League leaders, No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan (14-0, 6-0 CL) on the road in Marion, Indiana, with the match set to commence at 4:00 pm.
