BANNOCKBURN, IL—After being ousted from the CCAC playoffs, the Trojans rebounded to achieve postseason glory regardless on Friday night, besting the Judson University Eagles in four sets to claim the NCCAA North Central Region title while playing in front of their home crowd at Van Dixhorn Arena for the final time.
While the Eagles arrived with a purpose, claiming the first three scores of the evening, the Trojans calmly recalibrated and set the tone with a string of terrific sequences to establish a commanding 19-9 edge in short order. The Trojans continued to employ a balanced attack to claim the set, with their efforts spearheaded by the service exploits of
Emma Gallegos. Trinity also got solid attacking play from a variety of sources, including recently christened CCAC Player of the Year
Brianna Torres, who tallied four kills, and fellow star
Lana Vujosevic, who immediately announced her presence in the lineup after returning from an injury with four kills of her own as the Trojans glided on cruise control all the way to a 25-16 set win.
The Trojans kept their foot firmly planted on the gas pedal as the second stanza got underway, maintaining a slight edge on the visitors before bursting ahead 16-9 via a six-point run courtesy of another dominant serving spell by Gallegos. A few points later, the Trojans decisively buried the Eagles with a seven-point onslaught directed by another of Trinity's potent service specialists,
Desirae Pisano. In addition to the effectiveness of the service game, Torres became nigh unstoppable in the second frame, totaling eight kills in the set. Trinity's defensive effort complimented their offensive prowess, as the Trojans benefitted from a trio of blocks and an outstanding series of efforts from
Jaylyn Freeman, as the newly minted CCAC Libero of the Year was all over the place throughout the set, racking up highlight-reel digs for Trinity. All told, the Trojans pocketed the 25-13 set victory with ease, setting up a chance to lay claim to the title and punch their ticket to the NCCAA Tournament proper with one more set win.
Trinity appeared ready to romp their way to victory when another successful string piloted by Gallegos that saw her nab two aces to bring her total for the night to four yielded six straight scores as the Trojans established a 10-3 lead. The Eagles, sensing the urgency with their season on the line, rallied in the middle portion of the set, eventually pulling even with the Trojans at 17 apiece. Little separated the pair of conference rivals as they continued to grapple for control of the set down the stretch. A timely combo block by Torres and Trinity's standout net-front anchor
Madison Williams gave the Trojans match point, but Judson scored the next point to even the reckoning at 24-24. Torres detonated for yet another kill to add to her outstanding performance on the very next play, but the Eagles again staved off match point and knotted it up at 25. Finally, Judson managed to pull ahead, recording a kill before salting away the set on the merits of a pinpoint, back-corner serve that gave the Eagles a 27-25 set win and prolonged the match.
Riding high off the momentum they'd harvested from the third set, the Eagles took the fight to the Trojans right from the get-go in the fourth, scoring the first six points en route to an 8-1 lead. In need of a spark and with star hitter Vujosevic ailing, Trojan head coach
Luke Ward turned to
Nadia Wheeler, the team's fourth leading killer and a mainstay in the starting lineup until brilliant recent performances by her teammates supplanted her from that capacity. Wheeler was ready for the moment, immediately piling up three consecutive kills to draw the Trojans back within range of the Eagles while providing Trinity with a much-needed boost. The Eagles responded, re-establishing their solid edge to the tune of a 13-7 margin, but the Trojans came storming back, eventually equalizing the set at 19, largely due to the contributions of Wheeler, who raised her total to six kills with her continued stellar play. The Trojans and Eagles appeared evenly matched in every way as they went blow for blow down the stretch before the Eagles inched ahead to queue up set point, leading by a 24-23 margin.
Madison Williams responded for the Trojans, battering down a kill on her patented lightning quick rise-and-fire off an extremely precise feed from
Anna Skrzypchak to highlight her quietly outstanding and uber-efficient evening. A few plays later, the Trojans concluded matters, with freshman
Theresa Romero adding to her outstanding playoff run with a clutch hit that forced a Judson error to close things out, giving the Trojans the set by a 26-24 tally and rendering the Trojans regional champs.
The regional title gives the Trojans a true crowning achievement on what has been a remarkable season so far, and the qualities that made Coach Ward's squad such a fearsome bunch all season long were on full display in Friday's victory. The box score was chock-full of standout efforts, including those of Freeman (game-high 24 digs), Skrzypchak (game-high 51 assists), Gallegos (23 digs, 4 aces, Trojans won the point on 64.3% of her serves), Romero (9 kills, .300 hitting percentage, 3 solo blocks), and Williams (8 kills, 0 errors of any kind, .500 hitting percentage, 3 blocks). While the entire team was clicking, the story of the match was truly told through the efforts of
Brianna Torres and
Nadia Wheeler. Torres put everyone on notice as to why she was honored as the conference's top player with a vintage effort, stacking up a game-high 20 kills on .254 hitting while adding 13 digs and a block. And Wheeler stepped in in the most critical moment, answering the call by notching six kills in the fourth set alone while committing just one error to spur the Trojans onward to victory.
Trinity (26-9) will keep on dancing when they venture to Point Lookout, Missouri, to contend for a national title in the NCCAA Tournament, kicking off on December 1.
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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.
