CHICAGO, Ill. --- The 2021 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference's (CCAC) women's volleyball tournament continued on Thursday night as the fourth-seeded TIU Trojans visited the top-seeded Cougars of Saint Xavier University in the semifinal round. Coming off a four-set win over fifth-seeded St. Francis (IL) on Tuesday night, the Trojans looked to pull off the upset and extend their postseason run.
After struggling to keep up with the Cougars' high-powered offense in their previous meeting on October 19, Trinity challenged Saint Xavier early in the first set, forcing the Cougars into early mistakes. Despite this, SXU pulled away late to take the opening set 25-23.
In the second frame, Saint Xavier dominated on the floor with 17 kills as a team, attacking TIU's weak points on defense to win 25-14 and take a 2-0 lead on the night. Trinity would not give in however as they battled through a hotly contested third set thanks to their stout defense and limited errors. After trailing for much of the set, TIU took a 21-20 lead late, holding on to win a narrow 25-23 victory and extend the match to a fourth set.
The Trojans would carry their momentum into the fourth frame until SXU used a 6-0 run midway through the set to take the lead. Saint Xavier's offense, led by the conference's top attacker in Nadia Atton, would cruise down the stretch to win the fourth set 25-18 to win the match 3-1, ending TIU's CCAC Tournament run.
Brianna Torres led the night with 16 kills for the Trinity offense with 11 digs. Matty Hawkins recorded nine kills and three total blocks in the loss, while Anna Skrzypchak 30 assists. Defensively, Jaylyn Freeman posted 17 digs, with Lana Vujosevic notched 14 digs.
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ADDITIONAL GAME NOTES
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Trinity falls to 3-22 all-time against Saint Xavier with their loss on Thursday night.
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Thursday was the second postseason meeting all-time between the Trojans and Cougars. SXU has now won both meetings, the last coming during the 2018 CCAC Tournament.
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TIU was competing in their third CCAC Tournament semifinal on Thursday in the last four season. The 2018 and 2019 conference tournament runs both ended in the semifinal round for Trinity.
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Head coach Luke Ward drops to 3-4 all-time in CCAC Tournament matches with tonight's loss, and 5-8 in all postseason matches.
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Saint Xavier posted ten service aces to TIU's three on Thursday night.
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The Trojans unblocked SXU 5-4 in Thursday's loss.
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With 16 kills against the Cougars, Brianna Torres is now just 15 kills shy of 1,500 on her career. Torres can tie Carly Yattaw (2007-09) for the third most kills in program history in TIU's next match, and can become the fourth player in school history to reach 1,5000.
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Torres notched her 400th kill of the season on Thursday night.
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Jaylyn Freeman recorded her 400th dig of the season in Thursday's loss.
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Lana Vujosevic reached 600 career digs in Thursday's match. Having recorded 302 digs when playing at Governors State in 2019, Vujosevic also picked up her 300th kill of the season and of her TIU career against SXU.
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UP NEXT
With the loss, the Trojans (19-14) will now turn their attention to the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) postseason, beginning with the North-Central Region Tournament next week. Further information regarding opponents, times, and locations will be announced at a later date.
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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.
