CHICAGO, Ill. -- In the opening night of the CCAC Crossover, Trinity International suffered a pair of losses to South Division foes St. Francis and Purdue-North Central. The Trojans fell in straight sets in the opening match, 25-14, 25-12, 25-21 to the Saints, before dropping the nightcap with the Panthers in four games, 25-20, 21-25, 20-25, 16-25.

Box Score (USF) | Box Score (PNC) | Season Stats | CCAC Standings

Junior Samantha Stoller led the team in both matches, with six kills against St. Francis, and 13 against Purdue-North Central. Gabrielle LaMonaca anchored the back line, recording a team-high 13 digs against the Saints, and 27 against the Panthers.

In the first game, St. Francis took the first two sets wire-to-wire, but the Trojans battled to stay alive in the third. A pair of USF attack errors gave TIU an early 2-1 lead, but both sides ultimately split the first 18 points of the game, 9-9. St. Francis then scored nine straight points to claim an 18-9 advantage. A service ace from Mickayla Stall, followed by kills from Julie Gregornik and Stoller helped close the gap to five points, at 20-15. The Trojans pulled to within three, at 23-20 with a Lexie Voss kill, but weren't able to complete the comeback, falling 25-21.

Trinity opened the second match with a 25-20 win over the Panthers, jumping out to an early 5-1 advantage with a pair of kills from Staal and a Becca Kowalczuk ace. Purdue-North Central used a 5-1 rally of their own later in the set to tie the score at 18-18, before the Trojans rallied for four straight points to reclaim the lead and ultimately claim the set.

TIU led late in the second game, with a 7-5 rally that put the Trojans ahead 20-19, highlighted by five kills, including three from Staal. The Panthers rallied for six out of the next seven points, however, to claim a 25-21 win.

A big 7-2 start to the third set put the Trojans in front, but the Panthers slowly climbed back in the game, and used an 8-1 run to take the lead late in the set, 20-18. Staal and Stoller picked up a kill and service ace, respectively, to tie the score, but PNC recorded five straight points to take the set, 25-20. In the fourth and final set, Purdue-North Central took a 6-2 lead, and stayed in front the rest of the way.

The Trojans have one more match in the first CCAC Crossover, set for tomorrow morning. TIU faces off against Indiana-South Bend, beginning at 10:00 a.m.