Box Score CLINTON, Miss. – When a team needs to bounce back after a tough defeat, typically the big names are asked to take the lead. On Saturday for the Trevecca Nazarene University volleyball squad, that meant the Trojans looked to Kayla Bullard and Katilyn Grant.
The duo combined for 20 kills in the match, as the Trojans (10-9, 7-2 GSC) kept pace with West Alabama and Alabama-Huntsville in the Gulf South Conference race with a four set win over Mississippi Christian University (7-14, 4-5 GSC).
Trevecca's win featured another individual milestone, as Brynne Krangnes surpassed the 600 assist mark for her collegiate career. She now has a total of 622 assists, with 587 of those coming this season at Trevecca.
The Trojans win also keeps them within a single game of the lead in the GSC as the season reaches the halfway point. The Trojans are one game behind the Tigers of UWA and the UAH Chargers. Trevecca will open the second half of the conference slate on Tuesday with a trip to UAH.
SERIES HISTORY
Trevecca and Mississippi Christian have now met six times in their history, with all of those meetings taking place in the GSC. Trevecca has now won in Clinton in back-to-back seasons - and the Trojans are 2-1 on the road against MCU. Trevecca has won four of the last five in the series, and three straight, as TNU holds the series lead 4-2.
MATCH RECAP
Brynne Krangnes stepped back to serve to start the match, and the Trojans hit the ground running. Trevecca got kills from Emma Schnitzer, Kayla Bullard, and Isabella Sherrod as a part of a 7-1 run to open the match. Trevecca continued to push the lead, with Sherrod notching two more kills, Katilyn Grant adding one, and Charlee Young added an ace as the lead reached as many as nine early at 12-3. Trevecca put together another 6-0 spurt in the middle of the set to push their advantage to 18-6, and though MCU did close the gap to eight at 21-13, the Trojans finished the set on a 4-1 run that was capped by a kill from Grant to give her team a 25-14 set win.
The Choctaws opened the second frame on a 4-1 run, but Trevecca battled back. The Trojans used a 6-1 run to take an 11-9 lead. The Trojans maintained a slim lead through the middle stages of the stanza, but with Trevecca up 16-14, MCU went on a 4-0 run to take the lead 18-16. Kills from Krangnes and Jordan Hunt as a part of a 3-1 spurt helped the Trojans square the set at 19 apiece, but MCU scored six of the final seven points of the frame to take set two 25-20 and level the match at 1-1.
As in the second, Mississippi College opened an early lead, but a 6-2 stretch for the Trojans helped Trevecca surge in front at 8-6. An ace from Krangnes pushed the Trevecca lead to 11-8, and moments later the Trojans rattled off four straight points that included a kill from Sherrod and an ace from Lilly Vanbebber. That stretched the Trevecca lead to 16-10, and while the Choctaws battled to stay close, the Trojans were able to keep them from meaningfully closing the gap, as Trevecca took set three 25-20.
For the third consecutive set, MCU opened an early lead in the fourth stanza, but Trevecca climbed back level at nine points each. That is when the Trojans started to pull away. Emma Schnitzer recorded a pair of kills as a part of a 5-1 run that helped the Trojans open a 14-11 advantage, and the effects of playing their ninth set in 24 hours, the Choctaws struggled to stay close. Grant asserted herself on the front row as the set came to a close, and Trevecca took the set 25-xx to take the four set victory.
TROJAN HIGHLIGHTS
UP NEXT
Trevecca will wrap up their 3-match road swing with a trip to Spragins Hall at the University of Alabama-Huntsville (16-2, 7-1 GSC). The Trojans and Chargers played a classic five set match in Nashville on September 22 which was won by the Trojans. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
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