Trevecca Nazarene University

NASHVILLE – The season got underway for the Trevecca Nazarene University volleyball team on Friday afternoon, as the Trojans opened their schedule with the annual Ray Thrasher classic. Trevecca is hosting the two-day tournament, and on Friday, they played the first of their three matches.

While the action was thrilling, when the dust had settled, the Trojans fell in five sets in their opener.

Trevecca (0-1) rallied from a two set deficit to force their match with Lincoln Memorial University to five sets, but the Trojans fell in the fifth set, and the Railsplitters (1-0), 3-2 (25-22, 25-22, 12-25, 13-25, 15-13.

SERIES HISTORY 

Entering the weekend, the Trojans and Railsplitters had each won one match against the other, so Friday's win gives LMU the 2-1 edge in the all-time series.

MATCH RECAP

The first set was close early, with Trevecca inching their way out to a 12-10 lead on back to back kills from Katilyn Grant and Brynne Krangnes. LMU responded with four straight points to take the 14-12 lead, but the Trojans answered with a 5-1 spurt to take the lead back at 17-15. A 5-1 LMU run handed the lead back to the Railsplitters at 20-18, and the Trojans thrice cut the margin to one after that, but LMU held on to win the set 25-22.

LMU rode that momentum to an early 6-3 lead in set two, but Trevecca battled back with a 6-2 spurt that featured a pair of kills from Kayla Bullard, and single kills from Grant and Megan Ellis to take a 9-8 lead. LMU surged with an 8-2 run that put the Railsplitters up 16-11, but a pair of aces from Lilly Vanbebber highlighted an 8-1 Trevecca surge that gave TNU the lead late, 19-17. The Railsplitters, though, won eight of the final 11 points in the frame to take the set win 25-22 and move to the cusp of match victory.

Trevecca, though, was determined to battle back. Early in the third stanza, the Trojans used a 9-1 run to seize control and take a 10-3 lead. A later 6-1 run pushed the Trojans' lead to 21-11, and a pair of kills from Emma Schnitzer helped seal the set three win, 25-12 to keep Trevecca alive.

Three aces from Krangnes early in the fourth frame helped Trevecca race out to a 13-3 lead. LMU used a 7-2 spurt to pull within five at 15-10 in the frame, but a kill from Bullard ended that threat, and ignited a 10-3 run that took the Trojans to the 25-13 win and forced a decisive fifth set. 

Trevecca took three of the first four points in the final stanza, but the Railsplitters rallied to take a 4-3 lead. As the match wound down, Trevecca tied the score five times - at 4-4, 6-6, 8-8, 12-12, and 13-13 - but each time, the Trojans were unable to re-take the lead, and LMU held on for the win, 15-13, to take the match 3-2.

TROJAN HIGHLIGHTS

• Emma Schnitzer led the Trojans with 16 kills, and Kayla Bullard added 14 scoring strikes. Bullard added 16 digs to notch the double-double in the season opener.

• Brynne Krangnes stepped into the starting setter role for the Trojans, and she handed out 37 assists. She narrowly missed a double-double of her own with eight digs and six kills.  

• Isabella Sherrod led the Trojans in the back row with 20 digs, and Lily Vanbebber pulled up 19 as well. In addition to Bullard's 16, Brianna Bowman notched a dozen as four Trojans had at least 10 digs in the match.

• Trevecca notched 11 aces in the match, led by four apiece from Bullard and Krangnes.

UP NEXT  

Trevecca will conclude the weekend with a pair of matches on Saturday. Trevecca will take on former G-MAC foe Ohio Dominican University (0-1) at 12:30 p.m. before they wrap up the weekend with a tilt against Shorter (Ga.) (1-0) at 5:30 p.m.

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