LIVINGSTON, Ala. – A crucial road trip in the Gulf South Conference got underway for the Trevecca Nazarene University volleyball team on Friday evening. The Trojans headed south to take part in a battle with the University of West Alabama Tigers. The Tigers, Trojans, and Alabama-Huntsville Chargers entered play on Friday tied atop the GSC standings, but after a rough evening on Friday, the Trojans fell out of the tie atop the league.
Trevecca (9-9, 6-2 GSC) battled hard, but UWA proved to be too much, as the Tigers (20-2, 7-1 GSC) swept Trevecca at Pruitt Hall on Friday evening. The Trojans six match winning streak came to a close.
West Alabama is now 10-0 at home, sweeping every match and have one all 30 sets played at Pruitt Hall this year.
SERIES HISTORY
The Trojans and Tigers have met nearly exclusively as members of the GSC. The only non-conference matchup between the two teams came on August 30, 2002 - a meeting won by UWA. Since the Trojans have joined the GSC, even with Friday's loss, Trevecca still holds a 4-1 edge as conference foes.
MATCH RECAP
Trevecca inched ahead early in the first set, 7-6, but UWA answered with a 5-1 run to take the lead, 11-8.Katilyn Grand blasted her 1,000th collegiate kill to snap the run, but West Alabama answered with the next six straight points, as the Tigers pulled away to the set one win, 25-16. Grant also eclipsed the 200 kill mark for the season in the set, doing so on her second kill.
The Tigers roared out of the gate in set two with four straight points before Megan Ellis got the Trojans on the board with a kill. Trevecca managed to close the gap to 12-9 as they got the benefit of kills from Emma Schnitzer and Isabella Sherrod, as well as miscues from UWA, but the Tigers answered with a 6-1 run that helped them open an 18-10 lead. The Trojans battled back to close the gap to 23-19 on consecutive kills by Schnitzer, but UWA took two of the final three points of the set to claim the set 25-20 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
West Alabama opened the third set strong as well. The Tigers scored eight of the first 10 points in the stanza, with the lone exceptions being on kills from Schnitzer and Grant. Grant belted a pair of kills as a part of a 4-1 Trevecca spurt that also featured an ace from Lilly Vanbebber as the Trojans pulled to within three at 9-6.
Trevecca battled fiercely to stay close as the set wound down. Each time the Tigers opened a gap, the Trojans answered, and a kill by Kayla Bullard followed by an ace from Brynne Krangnes cut the Trevecca deficit to two points at 22-20 late in the frame. Schnitzer and Jordan Hunt followed with a block assist to get Trevecca within one, but the Trojans were unable to draw even, as they dropped the set 25-23, and the match 3-0.
TROJAN HIGHLIGHTS
? Katilyn Grant and Kayla Bullard led the Trojans with nine kills apiece, and Schnitzer added eight scoring strikes.
? Brynne Krangnes dished out 24 assists in the match, and she is now just six assists shy of 600 for her collegiate career.
? Lilly Vanbebber led the Trojans with 12 digs, and Isabella Sherrod added 10 in the match as well.
UP NEXT
Trevecca will continue their trip on Saturday when they head to nearby Clinton, Mississippi to take on the Mississippi Christian University Choctaws (7-13, 4-4 GSC) at 1 p.m. The road trip will conclude with a stop by UAH (14-2, 6-1 GSC) on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m.
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