Volleyball Starts 2-0 at IWU Invitational
October 09, 2009
The No. 23 Taylor volleyball won a pair of matches Friday at the IWU Invitational in Marion, Ind. Taylor opened with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-20) win over McKendree (Ill.) University before defeating Saint Xavier (Ill.) University 3-0 (30-28, 25-12, 25-17). With the two wins, Taylor's record improved to 18-3.
Taylor vs. McKendree
In just the second ever meeting between the two teams, Taylor recorded eight service aces to help secure the straight set victory.
Sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Pritchard earned team high honors with ten kills. Jackie Geile added nine kills and Rachel Kizer collected eight kills in the match. Eight different Trojans recorded kills, aided by setter Betsy Brown's 30 assists.
Freshman libero Courtney Herschberger led Taylor in both service aces (3) and digs (17). The Trojans posted a solid defensive effort with just one reception error and 11 different players recorded digs.
Taylor vs. Saint Xavier
In the opening set the Cougars took Taylor down to the wire before the Trojans finally pulled away with a 30-28 win. A dominant blocking effort lifted the Trojans to easy wins in the final two sets to secure Taylor's 18th win of the season.
The win marked the 11th time this season that Taylor has shutout its opponents.
Pritchard led the team with 12 kills followed by Geile with ten. Kizer matched her offensive output in the previous match with another eight kills. Brown dished out 33 assists to key the Trojan offense. The sophomore also notched ten digs for her fourth double-double of the season.
The blocking effort at the net was shared by six different players, with Colleen Nelis collecting five block assists to lead the way. Kizer's three block assists moved her into sole possession of tenth on Taylor's all-time block assists list with 236.
Taylor will be back in action at the IWU Invitational Saturday, Oct. 9 against Ohio Dominican University at 12 p.m. followed by a 2 p.m. matchup with Davenport (Mich.) University.