TIU Volleyball drops matches to St. Francis, Calumet St. Joseph
Greg Gorham
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Box Scores: USF | CCSJ | Season Stats
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. -- Finishing out the second CCAC Crossover of the year, the Trinity International Trojans dropped matches to the St. Francis Saints and the Calumet St. Joseph Crimson Wave, Saturday afternoon at the Robert Morris Athletic Center. TIU fell in straight sets for the Saints, before going the distance in a five-set loss to Calumet St. Joseph.
Junior Samantha Stoller led the Trojans (6-24, 4-12 CCAC) in both matches, collecting eight kills against St. Francis, and 17 against Calumet.
The Trojans nearly evened up the match with the Saints at one set each, before dropping the second game 25-22. Down 20-14 in the second game, Trinity reeled off seven straight points to take a 21-20 advantage. After St. Francis tied the score at 21-21, a Felicia Hess service ace and a kill from Stoller put TIU one score away from game point at 23-21. USF took the following four points to close out the set, however, going up two games to none en route to the sweep.
Against the Crimson Wave, TIU scored wins in games two and three, but suffered losses in the final two games to drop the match. With game point at 24-22 for CCSJ, a pair of attack errors evened the score at 24-24. A block from Victoria Boyd gave the Trojans their first game point, at 25-24, but Calumet tied the game again with a kill of their own. Julie Gregornik put TIU ahead 26-25 with a kill on the following point, then the Trojans earned a 27-25 victory following another Calumet attack error.
TIU jumped out to an 8-1 lead in game three, leading wire-to-wire to take a 2-1 lead in the match. After the Trojans took a 14-11 edge midway through the fourth game, CCSJ responded by finishing the set out on a 14-7 run to claim the 25-21 win and force a fifth set. Calumet took four of the first five points in the fifth, as the Trojans were unable to climb back in the game.
Defensively, Julie Gregornik led the Trojans against St. Francis with eight digs. Four players finished in double figures in digs against Calumet, led by Gabrielle LaMonaca, who picked up a season-high 32 digs. Allison Boggs earned a double-double in the match with 22 assists and 20 digs, as well as Gregornik, who picked up 10 kills and 16 digs in the match.
The Trojans return home for their last match of the year at the Meyer Sports Center; TIU hosts Illinois Tech on Thursday, October 31, at 7:00 p.m.
