JACKSON, Tenn. – The 2026 regular season is winding down for the Trevecca Nazarene University volleyball team, and on Saturday, the Trojans took another step towards possibly finishing in the top-4 in the Gulf South Conference.
Trevecca (13-11, 10-4 GSC) used six aces and a whopping 42 kills to sweep away the Union University Bulldogs (5-20, 1-13 GSC) on the road in Jackson on Saturday afternoon.
The Trojans exceeded their kills per set average for the season by a full two kills per set on Saturday, and the win moved the Trojans to within striking distance of locking up a top-4 seed in the GSC Championship. With four matches left in the season, Trevecca is now a half-game up on the University of Montevallo Falcons, and two full games clear of the fifth place Lee University Flames. Those will be the Trojans next two opponents, and Trevecca's magic number to clinch a top-four seed is three.
SERIES HISTORY
The Trojans are 8-2 in the last 10 meetings in the series, and 12-4 against Union since the Trojans joined the NCAA. In the rally scoring era (since 2000) the Trojans have now closed the gap to three games, with Union leading the series 26-23.
MATCH RECAP
Union opened the match on a 6-2 run but
Katilyn Grant helped Trevecca put together a 4-1 spurt to close the gap to 6-5 early on. With the score tied at nine, the Trojans rattled off six straight points to take a 15-9 lead, and that lead swelled to as many as 10 points late in the frame. Grant finished the set with five kills, and
Emma Schnitzer,
Kayla Bullard, and
Isabella Sherrod each added a pair as the Trojans racked up 11 kills and won the set 25-15.
The second frame was the most closely contested of the day. Trevecca scored three of the first four in the stanza, but Union answered to take a 6-4 lead. While there were only two lead changes in the set, the Trojans were unable to generate separation from Union as the set unfolded. Trevecca's lead did reach five points four times, but each time Union rallied, and the final time, the Bulldogs cut the margin to a single point at 21-20. With the pressure mounting, though, Schnitzer and Grant recorded back-to-back kills to push the Trevecca lead to 23-20 on their way to the 25-22 set victory to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Union held an early 3-2 lead in the third frame when Grant and Schnitzer asserted control again. Grant belted a pair of scoring swings, while Schnitzer served a pair of aces that came as a part of a quick 5-0 burst. After a single Union point, Grant notched two more kills, Schnitzer added a kill, and Sherod joined the party with an ace as the Trojans raced to a 12-4 lead. The set was never close after that, as the Trojans managed their gap over the Bulldogs and took the set 25-16 and the match 3-0.
TROJAN HIGHLIGHTS
- Brynne Krangnes dished out 31 assists in the match, which marked the 16th time in 24 matches she has had at least 30 assists. She also had 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the season.
- Lilly Vanbebber led Trevecca with 18 digs in the match, and Schnitzer and Kayla Bullard each had nine.
- Trevecca averaged 14.3 kills per set with a total of 43 kills in three sets. The Trojans attacked the ball at a .259 clip as a team - eight percent better than their season average.
UP NEXT
The Trojans will head south for their final away match of the 2026 regular season on Tuesday, October 27, to take on the Montevallo Falcons (17-7, 9-4 GSC) at 6 p.m. If the Trojans are able to win, it would complete the season sweep of the Falcons, which would secure the GSC tiebreaker and set up a clinching scenario for the Trojans to lock up a top-4 seed.
