CHICAGO, Ill. --- The TIU women's volleyball team battled the Saint Xavier University Cougars on Tuesday night at the Shannon Center, looking to continue their run of strong play against conference opponents. After a 3-1 home win against St. Francis last Saturday, Trinity looked to notch their tenth Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) win of the year.

Things did not start off well for TIU as they quickly fell behind in the first set on a 5-0 Cougar run. Despite pulling within one point at 12-11 on a Madeline Decker kill, the Trojans struggled to keep up with Saint Xavier's aggressive attacking offense, dropping the first frame, 25-20.

TIU would see more of SXU's dominant attack in the second and third sets as the Cougars took advantage of the spacing in Trinity's defense. SXU would notch double-digit kills in all three frames, while the Trojans would be held to single-digits in the final two sets.

After dropping the second set 25-16, TIU again fell behind early with a 4-0 Cougar start in the third. A Brianna Torres kill would pull Trinity within three points at 9-6, but SXU would respond with a 7-0 run. Despite both teams remaining fairly equal and limited in attack errors, Saint Xavier's offense would be too much for the Trojans as TIU dropped the final set 25-11 to take the 3-0 loss.

Torres and Decker, along with Jazmin Coronado all led the Trojans with six kills. Anna Skrzpchak recorded 18 assists in her return from injury, plus TIU's lone service ace of the night. On defense, Torres notched a team-high 11 digs, as Hawkins and Grace Mauersberger both blocked one solo shot and assisted on three more.

Additional Match Notes

• Tuesday's loss at Saint Xavier drops TIU to 3-20 all-time against the Cougars. Prior to last year's Trojan win in Deerfield, Trinity had lost their previous 17 matchups with SXU.

• The loss snaps the Trojan's six match winning streak against CCAC opponents. Entering tonight, Trinity Christian was the only conference loss TIU had suffered.

• Despite the loss, TIU still sits in second in the league standings, one game and a half ahead of first place Olivet Nazarene, and one half game ahead of IU-South Bend, who the Trojans will face in one week's time.

• With her six kills tonight, Brianna Torres became the seventh Trojan to record 1,000 career kills in program history. Her total of 1,003 is seventh most in school history, and she joins Madeline Decker, who also joined the 1,000 kill club earlier this season.

• TIU's 11 point third set was their lowest scoring frame this season.

• Saint Xavier notched nine service aces in their win over Trinity, holding the Trojans to just one.

• The Cougars recorded 45 kills on offense, compared to TIU's 24.

NEXT UP

TIU (13-6) will have the chance to bounce back on Thursday night as they visit the Judson University Eagles in Elgin. First serve is scheduled for 7:00pm CT from the Linder Fitness Center and can be watched LIVE on the Judson Live Stream.

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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.