CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The Trevecca Nazarene University volleyball team (5-2) split a pair of matches today at the Lee University Invitational. Trevecca lost an early morning match with the University of Montevallo (2-3) 3-0. The Trojans bounced back with a sweep of their own, taking out Erskine College (2-4) in three in an early afternoon match at Paul Dana Walker Arena.  

THE SERIES

Trevecca and Erskine played for the first time last year in the 2021 Thrasher Classic. With the win today, Trevecca is 2-0 all-time versus the Flying Fleet. Trevecca and Montevallo are now 1-1 in the NCAA Era. TNU won the only other meeting which was a Trojan win at the 2019 UAH Classic.

MONTEVALLO MATCH – 27-29, 13-25, 10-25

In a match that started at 8 AM Nashville time, both teams came out firing in the first set. In fact, the match went extra points before the Falcons earned a 29-27 win. The Trojans scored the opening point, but the Falcons took control for the rest of the early portion of the set. UM eventually built a 9-5 lead. The first Trojan lead came at 17-16 on a Sami Raley kill. The Trojans built a three-point advantage (20-17). Three consecutive Falcon points tied it at 20-20 and neither team would lead by more than two the rest of the way. Montevallo led 24-22 and served for the set, but Trevecca got a side out on an Ellie Buffler kill and had the serve at 24-24. The Falcons broke serve, but the Trojans came back and with the help of back-to-back Falcon attack errors, were serving for the set at 26-25. The Trojans returned the favor with an attack error but had another chance serving up 27-26. The Falcons got a kill from Macy Martin and served out for the win.

A tight early second set seemed to turn the Trojan's way as the Purple and White built a modest three-point advantage at 11-8. Unfortunately for the Trojans, what was a close match was about to turn completely in the Falcon's favor. UM scored the next nine points and closed the set on a 17-2 run for a 25-13 win. The Trojans did not regain their form in the third set, falling 25-10.

No Trojan hit double figures in any category and the team hit .087 for the match. TNU had one service ace to UM's 10. Montevallo hit .276 with one receiving an error to 10 for Trevecca.

ERSKINE MATCH – 25-17, 25-19, 25-16

Erskine scored the first point of the match, but Trevecca responded with a 6-1 run and never trailed the rest of the set. The Fleet tied the match 15-15, but Trevecca closed out the set on a 10-2 run for the win.

The Fleet led 2-1 in the second set but never led again. With the match tied 13-13, Trevecca used a 9-1 run to take control 22-14.

Trevecca never trailed in the third set and while holding a humble 13-12 lead, using a 9-2 push for a commanding 22-14.

Three Trojans – Sami Raley (9), Ellie Buffler (8), and Emma Titus (8) – had eight or more kills. As a team, the Trojans hit .272 with seven service aces and only three receiving errors.

UP NEXT

Next is day two of the Lee University Invitational on Saturday when the Trojans open with No. 2 (AVCA) Washburn (5-0) at 12:15 PM and conclude the weekend with a match with host Lee (1-4) at 6 PM.

Lee is 5-1 versus TNU in the NCAA Era. Washburn will meet for the first time in volleyball.

MORE ABOUT THE TREVECCA TROJANS

Visit the Official Home of Trevecca Athletics at www.tnutrojans.com | www.trevecca.edu

Click for Live Stats / Live Video of home games

Follow on Social Media -Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Photos | Mobile Updates | Free Newsletter | Mobile App

--www.tnutrojans.com--