Trojans Clinch CL Tournament Spot as Vestal’s Net Presence Keys Sweep

 CL Championships Central

UPLAND, Ind. – Freshman Daya Vestal recorded a career-high 11 kills and tied her career-best mark of four blocks in a Crossroads League Tournament-clinching sweep (25-18, 25-23, 25-22) for Taylor over Bethel on Wednesday night.

TU (11-19, 6-12 CL) entered Wednesday's match needing to either win or have Saint Francis (11-19, 4-14) lose in order to guarantee a spot in the CL Tournament. Though USF did fall in its match, the Trojans left nothing up to chance in a convincing win.

Taylor stared at a 3-0 deficit to kick off the night, but it did not take long for the Purple and Grey to have its own lead of six points at 16-10. Dominant play from Grace Ieremia helped get TU rolling, and Daya Vestal finished the set strong as the senior and freshman middle hitters closed the first set with four kills and one block apiece.

Both the Trojans and the Pilots (18-15, 8-10 CL) picked up their defense in a competitive second set that saw 52 digs – an even 26 from each side. Taylor held a slim lead of under three points for nearly the entirety of the frame, and Gracie Conway put the finishing touches on a set in which Vestal, Jaylynn Dunsmore and Reagan Kleiman combined for 10 kills of their own.

Conway added four more kills in a five-rally span early in the third set to help give TU a 9-5 advantage. The Pilots then went on a run to tie the set, 10-10, but they never gained control as the Trojans played sound team volleyball to close out their fifth victorious sweep of the season.

Vestal's 11 kills were matched by Conway for the team high, while Ieremia, Dunsmore and Kleiman all had five-plus kills to boot. TU totaled five team blocks, with Lindsay Springer recording two block assists to aid the effort.

McKaylah Flagle notched a match-high 15 digs, and Abi Powers and Lindsay Springer had 10 digs apiece.

Both Springer and Powers also had one service ace on a strong night from the service line for the Trojans, led by Flagle and Chloe Holtz with two aces each.

TU finishes the regular season tied with Spring Arbor (12-15, 6-12 CL) in the standings, though SAU earned the head-to-head tiebreaker of points won during the teams' matches against each other to grab the seventh seed.

Eighth-seeded Taylor begins the Crossroads League Tournament with a quarterfinals match at top-seeded, No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan (28-2, 18-0 CL) on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m.