Trojans Fall to DII 12th-Ranked Greyhounds
October 13, 2009
The No. 24 Taylor volleyball team snapped a 26-set winning streak for NCAA Div. II 12th-ranked University of Indianapolis Tuesday evening, but the Trojans dropped the match 3-1 (25-20, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22) to the Greyhounds in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis had not lost a set since defeating Missouri-St. Louis 3-1 on Sept. 25. Since then the Greyhounds, who advanced to the NCAA Div. II Tournament last season, had recorded six straight shutout victories.
Taylor (20-4) had a nine match winning streak snapped, while Indianapolis (23-1) won their ninth straight.
Reigning Mid-Central College Conference Player of the Week Kelsey Pritchard (20 kills) posted her second straight 20+ kill performance while also collecting a career high 11 digs for the sophomore outside hitter's second double-double of the season.
Junior outside hitter Jackie Geile gave Taylor its second double-double performer of the match by pounding 15 kills and popping up 12 digs. The effort marked Geile's fourth double-double of 2009.
Betsy Brown distributed 44 assists for the Trojans, while freshman libero Courtney Herschberger was tops for Taylor with 14 digs. Senior middle blocker Colleen Nelis led at the net with four blocks.
The Trojans hit an efficient .321 in the opening set, but the Greyhounds hit at a .586 pace on 18 kills and just one error. The Trojans pulled even at 10-10 following an ace by Brown, but the hosts used a balanced attack to regain the lead for good on their way to closing out set one with a 25-20 win.
In the second set the Greyhounds led 9-8 before the Trojans went on a 12-2 run to take the lead at 20-11. However, Indy scored 11 of the next 13 points to reclaim a 23-22 lead following a Taylor hitting error. Despite outhitting the Greyhounds .167 to .105 Taylor had its wind knocked out by the late Indy comeback.
The Trojans bounced back and took a 5-0 lead to start the third set as they went on to give Indianapolis their first set loss in nearly three weeks by the final score of 25-18. Taylor led by as many as ten points, paced by the defense, which recorded 22 digs and three team blocks for the set. The Greyhounds closed the gap to 22-18, but Geile recorded kills in two of the final three points for the win. Geile and Pritchard paced the offense with four kills apiece.
Taylor proved they belonged in the final set, where there were seven tie scores and two lead changes, but the Greyhounds avoided a fifth set by winning 25-22. Pritchard had four kills in the early stages to build an 8-4 Taylor lead, but Indy went on an 8-1 run and grabbed a 12-9 lead. Though the Trojans battled to even several times after that, they never could regain a lead. Down two points at 24-22 with the serve, Taylor committed a service error and ended the match.
Next up for the Trojans is a trip to Fort Wayne, Ind., this Friday, Oct. 16 at 5:30 as the team will face 15th-ranked Indiana Tech (19-7).