Volleyball Forces Five Sets Twice, but Falls in Heartbreakers

UPLAND, Ind.  – The Taylor volleyball team dropped a pair of maximum-length matches in the closing two games of its nonconference season at the Amber McClure Fayerweather Memorial Tournament on Saturday.

TU began the day facing RV Indiana East (9-3), with the Red Wolves and Trojans claiming alternate sets.

After dropping the first set, Taylor used a balanced offensive attack led primarily by the swings of Gracie Conway, Grace Ieremia and Reagan Kleiman to grab set number two, 25-15.

IU East came back with a strong third frame, but the Trojans gutted out a tight fourth set – aided by an early stretch of three consecutive kills by Ieremia – to force a fifth game. The Red Wolves responded by taking the first six points of that final set, however, as they cruised to victory.

Kleiman recorded 13 kills, while Ieremia and Conway joined the sophomore in double figures. Similarly, Jen Springer notched 18 digs on the defensive end, where she was joined by McKaylah Flagle and Chloe Holtz with 16 and 13 digs, respectively.

Taylor hit for a higher percentage than Indiana East and notched a season-high 15 blocks with Ieremia, Dunsmore and Reagan Salzbrenner joining the party, but it had trouble defending the serve from the Red Wolves, who notched 12 service aces.

In the closing match of the AMF Memorial Tournament Saturday evening, TU found themselves down two sets to none versus Saint Xavier (3-5) as it struggled to find the court in-bounds on its swings.

Subbing into the third set with the Trojans trailing 11-10, Ava Kraft gave the hosts a big lift with four kills through the duration of the frame, which Taylor ended up taking 25-22.

Kraft answered the call again in the fourth set with another eight kills as she willed Taylor to a 25-23 win and a fifth set.

The Trojans' momentum was stopped there, though, with SXU hanging on to claim victory over the hosts.

Despite the loss, TU tallied season-highs of 62 kills and 61 assists, with Lindsay Springer setting up her season-best 53 assists.

Taylor (5-7, 0-0 CL) turns its focus to Crossroads League action when it hosts Goshen (5-11, 0-0) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET inside Odle Arena.