Justin Chapman | Echo
Taylor's volleyball team finally gets the sweet revenge they have been waiting for. The Trojans have not defeated Mount Vernon Nazarene since 2014, and the team anticipated this 7 game-losing streak against the Cougars to end last Saturday.
Indeed, the drought finally came to a close. The Trojans defeated the Cougars in three sets and each set Taylor won by at least five points. This brings their record to 19-14 overall and sit in fourth place in the Crossroads League with a record of 9-7.
In the first set, the lead for Taylor steadily rose throughout the match. At first, it was 10-5, then it was 17-9 and eventually ended at 25-15. The Trojans carried momentum into the second set, as the team came out with a 7-2 lead.
"As a team, we had a sense of urgency to go out and win," sophomore Hannah Paul said. "We have had a couple losses that have definitely hurt, so we just did not want to lose again. And we definitely did not let them get big runs; they didn't get many points in a row."
The victory gives the team a three-game winning streak. This comes at a good time since postseason play starts Nov. 4. The squad hopes to carry momentum into the postseason.
Before these three games, the team lost four games in a row. The team looks to stay on track, as this season, at times, has been a bumpy ride. After starting out 12-4, the Trojans quickly fell to 14-10, losing six out of eight games in a span of about two weeks.
According to head coach Erin Luthy, injuries have plagued the team. She believes since the team stepped up during this tough season, it makes them stronger.
"It looks like we're starting to come out of that (losing streak)," junior Addy Bailey said. "Our conference is a lot better this year than it has been in the past couple years, which makes it interesting in that everybody's beating each other."
The Trojans came close to extending their win streak to four games Wednesday night. However, the team could not overcome Bethel and lost 3-2. Bailey had 14 kills, and senior Kayla Springer had 12 kills. However, 32 hitting errors restricted the Taylor offense.
The next game for the Trojans will be the last of the regular season. Taylor will face Goshen tonight at home at 7 p.m.
"Photograph by Brad Timmerman"
