POINT LOOKOUT, Missouri - In their first appearance in the NCCAA National Tournament since 2010 the TIU Volleyball team suffered a pair of hard fought losses on Thursday, dropping both matches 3-1 to Southwestern Assemblies of God Univeristy and the College of the Ozarks.

The Trojans opened the afternoon with a matchup against #2 SAGU, and TIU got off to a great start to open the match. TIU came out of the gates quickly, taking the opening set 26-24 to take an early 1-0 lead. Strong play from Brianna Torres and Madeline Decker helped put TIU on the front foot early.

Despite leading 1-0, SAGU rallied back throughout the remainder of the match, taking the next two sets to take a 2-1 lead. In the fourth set of the match TIU found their groove offensivley and controlled the majority of the play in the game.

Leading 24-21 with a chance to push the match to a deciding 5th set the Lions rallied off 5 of the last 6 points to seal a 3-1 win over TIU.

In their second match of the day the #7 Trojans saw themselves pitted against the #3 seeded host College of the Ozarks. CO opened the match with two decisive wins, taking both sets 25-21.

In the third set of the match the Trojans showed the resilience they have all season long, battling back for a 26-24 win to send the match to a fourth set. In that fourth game of the day Ozarks continued to find success offensively, defeating the Trojans 25-17 and winning the match 3-1.

Torres and Decker continued their strong play in the second match of the day, posting 15 and 11 kills each, respectively.

The Trojans continue their play at the NCCAA National Tournament tomorrow when they play Grace College at 12 PM.