BANNOCKBURN, Ill. --- On an unusually snowy Halloween night, Trinity International University volleyball team played host to the Fighting Saints of the University of Saint Francis on Thursday night at Van Dixhorn Arena. In a fight between two teams sitting at 10-4 in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) play, a win would be highly valuable to whichever team came out victorious. Back on September 10 in Joliet, the Trojans rallied in the fifth set to win the match 3-2.

TIU looked solid throughout the first two frames of the match. Senior Sara Andric powered the Trojan offense with a punishing attack at the net, while Penina Sao and Kierra Kopeke held firm on defense. After clinching the first two sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-20 respectively, the Saints flipped the switch in the third.

Led by Brooklyn Withey and Stephanie Woods, St. Francis exploded out of the gate in the third and caught the Trojan defense off guard. The Saints would take the third set 25-18, then followed up their strong play by coming back after falling behind early in the fourth set. TIU would jump ahead 7-3 before the Saints would tied the fourth, then rolled in the middle of the frame to force a winner-take-all fifth set.

The final set took on a back-and-forth style fight, with both offenses and defenses refusing to budge. Ultimately it was the Trojans who broke through, scoring eight of the final 12 points to clinch the set 15-12, and the regular season sweep of St. Francis.

With the win, the Trojans improve their record to 7-0 in five set matches on the season. The victory also puts TIU in a tie with Olivet Nazarene for third in the CCAC standings, with conference tournament quickly approaching.

The Trojans return home to honor their senior class in the final regular season home match of the season on Saturday, November 2 at 11:00AM at Van Dixhorn Arena.

Trinity International University is a comprehensive, national university affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America and located in Bannockburn, Illinois, 25 miles north of Chicago. TIU educates men and women to engage in God's redemptive work in the world by cultivating academic excellence, Christian faithfulness and lifelong learning.