2008 Season Review

Winning was the name of the game for the 2008 volleyball Trojans. Along with winning its second consecutive regular season conference championship, the team posted its third consecutive 30+ win season, a perfect 8-0 conference record, and the program's 1,000th win.

Taylor opened the season against Saint Xavier in the University of Michigan-Dearborn Tournament. The win over the Cougars was the first of five victories against opponents receiving recognition in the NAIA Top 25 polls. Taylor picked up three wins in the kickoff tournament jump-starting them to a 12-2 record including a sweep of the Taylor Trojan Challenge.

In mid-September the Trojans hosted a stacked Taylor Invitational which featured two top-25 teams. Taylor recorded two wins during the weekend, one coming at the expense of No. 19 Campbellsville University.

With a 16-6 record at the end of September, the Trojans lost only one match in the following month coming at the hands of 7th-ranked Madonna University.

A pair of conference wins served up the month of October and ignited an 11-match winning streak. One of those wins came against 22nd-ranked Indiana Wesleyan on October 7. The short trip to the home of the cross-county and conference rival became a battleground as the Trojans toppled the Wildcats in a four-set grudge match. The win put Taylor in sole possession of first place, a slot they would not relinquish for the remainder of the season.

Two weeks later, on October 21, the Trojans stamped their place in collegiate volleyball history when a 3-0 defeat of Bluffton University (Ohio) marked the program's 1,000th win. The record made the Trojans the first NAIA volleyball program in the country to reach the milestone. Taylor joined five NCAA Division I volleyball programs - UCLA, Nebraska, Missouri State, BYU, and Long Beach State - that have reached the 1,000-win plateau. UCLA tops the list entering the 2009 season with a total of 1,074 all-time victories. The Trojans started the year with 1,008 wins.

Taylor entered the conference tournament coming off a pair of league victories, a win on senior night over 15th-ranked Indiana Tech, and six weeks in the top 25 poll topping out at No. 18.

With a perfect conference record the Trojans hosted first round and semifinal matches against Huntington and Goshen, respectively. A 3-1 victory over Huntington and a 3-0 sweep of Goshen set up a championship rematch against the Wildcats of IWU, this time in Odle Arena.

However, playing without the services of injured starters, setter Betsy Brown and middle blocker Bethany Beck, Taylor fell to the Wildcats in a five-set thriller.

Coming up just a win short of a national tournament appearance, the Trojans were not short of individual accolades. Leading the way was head coach Brittany Smith who was named MCC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Freshman setter Betsy Brown had a tremendous showing in her inaugural campaign. The Adrian, Mich., native led the conference with 1,382 assists on the season and ranked 23rd in the nation in assists per set, averaging 11.8 per set during conference play. For her efforts Brown was a six-time MCC Setter of the Week, honored as a First Team All-Conference selection and named MCC Setter of the Year. At the conclusion of the season, the NAIA selected her as an All-American Honorable Mention, making her one of just three freshmen on the 72-player list.

Joining Brown on the First Team All-MCC list was freshman outside hitter Kelsey Pritchard. The 6-0 outside hitter, who was also tabbed MCC Freshman of the Year, led the league with a .399 hitting percentage during conference action and became just the third freshman in Taylor's volleyball history to reach the 500-kill milestone, with a team-leading total of 505 kills.

Seniors Jenny Peterson and Lindsey Bayle snagged first and second team All-Conference, respectively. Peterson finished sixth in the MCC with a .251 hitting percentage to go along with 306 kills on the season. A team captain for the Trojans, Peterson was third on Taylor's team with 92 blocks. Peterson ended her career ninth on Taylor's all-time kills list with 1,449. During her four-year career, she accumulated 318 block assists to rank her fifth in the Taylor record books. The double major in business management and marketing systems also received recognition as an NAIA Scholar-Athlete.

Bayle tallied 621 digs on the season from the libero position to lead the Trojans. She was named MCC Libero of the Week five times and also finished tied for first on Taylor's team with 43 service aces. A transfer from Grand Valley State University, Bayle played her final two seasons as a Trojan and finished her career as the all-time Taylor career leader with 4.82 digs per set.

Molly Larkin, a triple major in history, political science, and Spanish; and Colleen Nelis, exercise science; joined Peterson on the NAIA Scholar-Athlete list.