Trojans Win Third Straight Championship
October 28, 2009
The No. 17 Taylor volleyball team defeated Huntington 3-0 (30-28, 25-15, 25-20) Wednesday evening at home to wrap up the outright 2009 Mid-Central College Conference championship. The title gives the Trojans their third straight MCC regular season crown.
Taylor (27-4) has a perfect 7-0 record in MCC play with just one league match remaining. The Trojans have now won 19 consecutive regular season conference matches. Huntington drops to 15-14 overall and 2-5 in league play.
Reigning NAIA National Player of the Week Kelsey Pritchard paced Taylor with 16 kills while hitting at a .500 clip. The sophomore was one of three Trojans to collect three blocks in the match. Junior outside hitter Jackie Geile tallied 14 kills for a .429 hitting percentage.
Betsy Brown ran the Taylor offense with 36 assists. The sophomore also posted six digs and three blocks. Courtney Herschberger was the only player on Taylor's roster to reach double figures in digs with 16.
The Trojans hit at .314 for the match compared to .116 for the Foresters. Huntington outdistanced Taylor in the digs column, 53-51. The blocking advantage went to Taylor with an 8-2 total block tally.
Huntington outside hitter Brittney Smelser had 19 kills find the floor to lead the visitors.
As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Week at Taylor, both teams wore pink uniforms, and breast cancer survivors were honored between the second and third sets of the match.
Taylor will host the nine-team Trojan Challenge this Friday and Saturday in Odle Arena. The Trojans play at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, Taylor will play at noon and 2 p.m.
The featured match of the weekend is No. 17 Taylor taking on No. 7 Columbia (Mo.) at 7 p.m. Friday evening.