BANNCOCKBURN, Ill. --- The TIU women's volleyball team welcomed the Fighting Saints of the University of St. Francis (IL) to Van Dixhorn Arena for the second time in the last week as they hosted the quarterfinal matchup of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Tournament. Coming into the postseason with their second longest winning streak of the season, the Trojans looked to knock of the Fighting Saints for a second time this season and advance to the next round.

Like last week's regular season match, Trinity and USF opened the night not giving up an inch to one another in a closely contested first set. The Saints would gain a slight edge as the Trojans committed seven attack errors in the opening frame, giving USF an opening to win 25-20.

TIU locked in starting in the second set with an 8-1 run to start the frame. Despite a late surge by the Saints, the Trojans racked up 15 kills as a team to flip the script and tie the match with a 25-20 win. After another strong start in the third set, Trinity and USF would battle down to the wire in an extended frame that saw the Trojans win thanks to a Brianna Torres kill and St. Francis error, 31-29.

The blue and white would have a tough time closing out the fourth set with several attack errors, allowing USF to stay alive and keep the possibility of a fifth set alive. However, facing set point in St. Francis' favor, the Trojans scored four of the final five points on a pair of kills by Matty Hawkins and one by Torres to finish the fourth set 28-26, and secure the 3-1 postseason victory.

Torres and Hawkins dominated the night offensively, with Torres notching 26 kills and 15 digs in the win, with Hawkins posting 22, as well as four total blocks. CCAC Setter of the Week Anna Skrzypchak posted a commanding 57 assists in the win, while Jaylyn Freeman recorded 25 digs on defense. Grace Mauersberger also notched nine kills for TIU, as Lana Vujosevic recorded 17 digs, and Nadia Wheeler posted three blocks.

ADDITIONAL GAME NOTES

• With their win, TIU improves to 11-15 all-time against St. Francis (IL). The Trojans have won eight of the last ten meetings against USF, and now hold a 2-3 record against the Fighting Saints in postseason play.

• Tuesday marks Trinity's first postseason victory since the 2019 NCCAA Tournament, when the Trojans beat College of the Ozarks (MO) in pool play. It is also the program's first conference tournament win since the 2019 CCAC Tournament, when TIU also beat St. Francis in five sets in Deerfield.

• Head coach Luke Ward is now 3-3 in CCAC Tournament matches with tonight's win, and 5-7 all-time in postseason action.

• TIU advances to the CCAC Tournament semifinals for the third time in the last four seasons (2018, 2019).

• Matty Hawkins and Anna Skrzypchak both set new career-highs in kills (22) and assists (57) respectively in Tuesday's win. Brianna Torres tied her career-best in kills (26), while Jaylyn Freeman recorded her best dig total of her career in a four-set match (25).

• Torres and Skrzypchak both combined to set six new single-match school records in their win over St. Francis (IL). Torres set new records for most kills in a four-set match, most kills in a four-set home match, and most kills in a four-set postseason competition. Skrzypchak broke all three of the same records for assists.

• Skrzypchak earned her 1,000th assist of the season on Tuesday, becoming the eighth player in program history to reach that feat, and the first to do so since Katelyn Sommers in 2018. She also surpassed 1,700 career assists in the win, becoming the fifth player in school history to do so. 

• An all-around defensive effort by the Trojans, five TIU players posted double-digit dig totals in Tuesday's victory (Jaylyn Freeman-25, Lana Vujosevic-17, Brianna Torres-15, Anna Skrzypchak-13, Emma Gallegos-10).

UP NEXT

The Trojans (19-13) travel into Chicago to take on top-seeded Saint Xavier University (26-3) in the semifinal round of the CCAC Tournament on Thursday night. First serve is scheduled for 7:00pm CT at the Shannon Center, with the game being streamed LIVE on the Cougar Sports Network.
 

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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.