Dominant Defensive Display Leads Taylor to CL-Opening Sweep

GOSHEN, Ind. – No. 22 Taylor (10-3, 1-0 CL) began Crossroads League play with a sweep of Goshen on the road on Wednesday night, led by a dominant defensive display.

A stout defense held Goshen to a .009 hitting percentage with seven blocks and 51 digs. Ellie Frey led the way in both categories, tallying three solo blocks and 14 digs, while Shaye Watson and Alexa Mader had three block assists apiece and McKaylah Flagle carded nine digs.

The Trojans began slowly, trailing 4-1 before waking up and rattling off four straight points to take a brief 5-4 lead. The squads traded points until Goshen completed a 4-0 run with a pair of blocks to gain an 11-8 lead.

Watson delivered a vital kill to give TU the momentum as Reagan Salzbrenner connected on a pair of swings and TU rallied to a 15-11 lead.

Taylor could not get much breathing room as the Maple Leafs battled throughout the rest of the way. The away team stayed locked in and after a timeout Salzbrenner added a kill and Frey finished the set with one of her team-high 15 kills.

The TU attack got going in the second set, hitting .228 after hitting under.100 in the first, fueling an early 9-3 advantage that forced a Goshen timeout. The break could not slow down the offense as the purple and gray stretched the lead to 15-6 after Watson kill.

The Trojans cruised to a 24-12 lead before letting off the gas and having to use a timeout as Goshen (4-7, 0-1 CL) mounted a late comeback. Regan Kleiman put an end to the rally with a kill from Mader to take the second 25-17.

A back-and-forth battle saw the CL squads tied ten times in the first 15 points. Frey, Mader, Kleiman, and Watson each delivered a kill to give Taylor a 20-15 advantage. The lead did not hold as the Maple Leafs rattled off six of the next seven points to level the score at 21. The Trojans turned it on to take the final three points led by a pair of kills by Frey to close the match in a clean sweep.

Crossroads League action continues for TU on Saturday, September 6, with a road matchup against No. 15 Mount Vernon Nazarene (6-4, 0-1 CL) at 3:00 pm.