No. 19 Trojans Cruise to Victory
September 01, 2009
The No. 19 Taylor volleyball team improved its record to 5-1 Tuesday after defeating NCAA Div. II Saint Joseph's College (Ind.) in a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 25-15, 25-19) on Hawaiian night in Odle Arena.
In the team's final tune-up before entering conference play next week, Taylor received a career-high 16 digs from freshman Amanda Beebe and a season-high 18 kills from sophomore Kelsey Pritchard to breeze past the Pumas.
Playing in just her sixth collegiate match, Beebe seemed to be everywhere on the court, digging up ball after ball that appeared to be headed for the floor. Freshman Courtney Herschberger led the team with 17 digs from her libero position.
On the offensive side, Betsy Brown dished out her 37 assists to five different teammates, including Jackie Geile, who tallied nine kills and eight digs.
Taylor finished the match hitting at a clip of .262, but hit with an even higher efficiency of .405 (16 kills/1 error) in the third and final set.
Middle blocker Bethany Beck helped anchor a row of blockers that held Saint Joseph's to just a .102 attacking percentage for the match. The sophomore finished her night with a team-leading three blocks that went along with her six kills and just two hitting errors.
"I'm proud of the total team effort that was put forth tonight," said Taylor head coach Brittany Smith. "From great defense, to aggressive serving, to powerful offense, I think the team really put the complete package together tonight. Now we go back to work and get ready for conference play next week."
In each of Taylor's five wins this season, the Trojans have not lost a set. The lone loss of the young season came against No. 13 Olivet Nazarene in a 3-1 setback last weekend at the UM-Dearborn Earlybird Challenge.
Taylor will be away from game action for the next week, but will return to the court next Wednesday, Sept. 9 when they travel to Marian University for the team's MCC opener at 7 p.m. in Indianapolis.