BANNOCKBURN, Ill. --- Seeking to extend their longest winning streak of their season to five matches, the TIU women's volleyball team welcomed the Crimson Wave of Calumet St. Joseph to Van Dixhorn Arena on Tuesday night in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) play. Sitting in the top three in the league, the Trojans looked to keep up their recent moment and stay atop the CCAC.

In a match filled with attack errors on both sides, Trinity took advantage of CCSJ's attacks out-of-bounds and service errors en route to a 25-20 win in the opening set. The first frame would remain close until TIU scored four consecutive points off three Crimson Wave errors and a Matty Hawkins kill. In the second set, the Trojans again jumped out after a close start, thanks to more CCSJ errors, plus a Jaylyn Freeman service ace. Tonight's match also gave the TIU bench more playing time as the Trojans easily closed the second frame out 25-16.

Trinity put the final touches on a solid performance in the third set with two separate 5-0 runs, put together by kills by Hawkins, Emma Gallegos, Jazmin Coronado, and service aces by Coronado and Hattie Black. The CCSJ offense would struggle to respond, recording only two kills in the final frame with nine attack errors, giving TIU the 25-12 win in the set, and the clean match sweep.

Hawkins and Brianna Torres led TIU with nine kills each in the victory, while Anna Skrzypchak notched 20 assists and no setting errors. Freeman led the Trojans defensively with 11 digs, plus three service aces.

Additional Match Notes

• With the victory, TIU added to their dominant lead in the all-time series, picking up their 13th all-time win against CCSJ. The Trojans have only lost to the Crimson Wave once in program history.

• Improving to 7-1 in CCAC play, TIU is tied with Trinity Christian for second in the league standings through eight conference matches. Olivet Nazarene leads both TIU and TCC by one game for first place.

• TIU's five match winning streak is their longest of the season. The Trojan's longest streak of consecutive victories last year was seven matches.

• Trinity outmatched the Crimson Wave 32-18 in kills in the win.

• Calumet St. Joseph committed 19 total attack errors against TIU. The Trojans committed 13.

• With nine kills against CCSJ tonight, Brianna Torres is one kill shy (917) of passing Stephanie Whelan (2002-03) for seventh on the program's all-time kill list.

• TIU head coach Luke Ward picked up the 90th win of his coaching career tonight, becoming just the third Trojan volleyball coach to reach the milestone. Ward is one victory from tying Linsey Ebert (2001-04) for second most wins with 91, and six wins from passing Jill Rokosik (2006-10) as the winningest coach in program history with 95.

NEXT UP

TIU (9-3) will begin a three-match road trip to kick-off spring break, starting with the Missouri Baptist Spartans on Thursday, March 4 in St. Louis. First serve is scheduled for 6:00pm from MBU's Petty Sports Complex, and can be watched LIVE on the Spartan Digital Network.

Visit TIUtrojans.com to stay up to date with the latest TIU women's volleyball news and schedule updates.

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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.