OSKALOOSA, Iowa --- On the road again this weekend, the Trojans traveled to William Penn University for the Jimmy John's classic. After meeting a pair of opponents on Friday and again Saturday Trinity left Iowa with another tournament sweep, defeating all four opponents.

Game One: Hannibal-LaGrange University (25-14, 24-26, 25-18, 25-12) 
With the serve to begin, Trinity went up 3-0 before the visiting Trojans came back to tie the score. Trading points back and forth, both teams struggled to gain consistent momentum until a kill by freeman Theresa Romero started a four point rally that was followed by another three points with back to back kills by Brianna Torres. Holding onto the lead 13-8, the TIU Trojans scored five of the next seven points before Hannibal-LaGrange mustered a short rally. Leading 18-13, senior Lana Vujosevic notched back to back kills assisted by Anna Skrzypchak. The visiting Trojans would score one more point the remainder of the set as Vujosevic took the serving position, earning an ace before kills by Nadia Wheeler and Brianna Torres to win the first set.

Set two of the match kept a tight scoreline throughout the entire match until the final points, with either team scoring back to back points on only four occasions before a tied game at 14-14 amidst a Hannibal-LaGrange rally. Trinity gained a bit of momentum and a small lead following a kill by Halsie Keltner. Jaylyn Freeman took over serving and earned an ace to increase the Trojan's lead to 17-15. With a four point lead at 22-18, Trinity looked like they would close the match with another victory but lost focus, giving up a couple of attacking errors. Despite pushing for the win by two, TIU fell as Hannibal-LaGrange rallied and won the set.

Coming out with a vengeance, Trinity took a 9-3 lead over Hannibal-LaGrange after back to back aces by Vujosevic. The visiting Trojans pushed back to lessen their deficit to four points before TIU launched another rally led by Torres notching one kill and two service aces. A well-timed break by Hannibal-LaGrange allowed them to regain the serve and close the scoreline 16-13. A couple of Trojan errors gave Hannibal-LaGrange another boost before TIU handed out three more kills followed by an ace from sophomore Desirae Pisano. Hannibal-LaGrange nabbed one more point before Trinity rallied for the victory.

In a commanding fashion, the Trojans took set four with a quick 6-3 lead after blocks by Skrzypchak, Wheeler, and Rhea Zahller. Consecutive kills by Torres and Madison Williams increased Trinity's lead before a short three point rally, broken up by a Trojan ball handling error. Taking advantage of an attacking error by the visiting Trojans, TIU nabbed another three points and a seven point lead. Hannibal-LaGrange tried to stay alive, but struggled to land back to back points throughout the match. A four point run by Trinity brought them within a point of victory before Hannibal-LaGrange nabbed one kill to stall the inevitable. Williams landed the final kill to secure the games victory for Trinity International.

Brianna Torres notched another career double-double in the match while Anna Skrzypchak landed a season high in assists.

Game Two: William Penn University (25-16, 23-25, 25-19, 25-15)
Another four set match, the Trojans were evenly matched with the Statesmen through the first ten points. Back to back errors by William Penn broke the tie then a kill by Vujosevic and ace by Williams gave Trinity a 9-5 lead. A slew of errors on both sides kept the Trojan's lead strong as Freeman took the serving position again. A pair of kills by Torres followed by an ace by the senior defensive specialist drew a timeout by the Statesmen. Out of the break, William Penn took three points that TIU quickly took back to maintain their lead at 18-11. The Statesmen pushed one more time and rallied for three points but after a few Trojan kills, errors by William Penn gave the Trojans the winning points.

A slow start for both teams produced a tie score seven times before either team reached ten points. At 11-11 William Penn took a slight lead and the Trojans called a timeout. The following nine points consisted of Trinity nabbing two then the Statesmen taking back one, on three consecutive occasions. With a tied score again at 18 points, William Penn started to pull away as Trinity fell to attacking errors. Rallying for three, the Trojans gained a spark to try and close the game but the Statesmen called for a break twice amidst the final points in order to preserve their lead and deny the Trojan victory.

Looking to turn things around, the Trojans came out with fire in the third set as they took an 11-5 lead. The Statesmen were able to grab back points throughout the match, eventually closing the gap to three points at 17-14 following a well-timed break by the coaching staff. Vujosevic landed a pair of kills surrounding a Statesmen error to increase the Trojan lead again, 20-14. A service error by William Penn ended a small rally for the Statesmen as Trinity went up 22-17. Two kills by Torres followed by another Statesmen error ended the third set to put the Trojans up 2-1 in the match.

Continuing their momentum, TIU started hot again and worked their way to a 12-5 score line before the Statesmen took advantage of consecutive Trojan errors. Trinity took a time out to regroup and refocus, but William Penn continued the scoring streak of their own accord with back to back kills and tied the score at 14-14. A service error by the Statesmen gave TIU the serve and the eventual victory, scoring their final 11 points while William Penn only grabbed back one.

Nadia Wheeler had a team-high .333 attacking percentage. Three Trojans notched double-doubles: Brianna Torres (24 kills, 19 digs) Lana Vujosevic (11 kills, 18 digs) and Anna Skrzypchake (43 assists, and 12 digs).

Game Three: Graceland University (25-19, 25-21, 25-17)
The Trojans took care of business against Graceland as they swept the Yellow Jackets in three sets. Both teams grabbed points early on and the scoreline remained close until Theresa Romero nabbed her first kill of the game on her way to a .700 attacking percentage. The kill started a string of four points for the Trojans that also included back to back kills by Nadia Wheeler. Another kill by Romero brought the score to 15-11 before two additional kills to widen the Trojan lead even further. The Yellow Jackets tried to regain momentum but failed to string together more than two points as the Trojans climbed slowly to a 25-19 victory in the first set.

A stretch of Trinity errors gave the Yellow Jackets an early lead in the second set. After trading points, the Trojans started to get in the groove and take back points as Madison Williams, assisted by Madison Feagans, started a rally of four points that also saw kills by Halsie Keltner and another by Romero. With the score tied at 10-10 the Trojans struggled to garner any attack but benefited from a slew of attacking and service errors by Graceland. Finally, with the Trojans behind 16-19, Williams notched another kill, followed by Romero and a Yellow Jacket error to tie the game again. Graceland earned the go ahead point on a Trojan error, but would go on to earn just one more point as the Trojans stole the rest of the game, the final points from back to back service aces by Keltner.

With Emma Gallegos at the serving position, the Trojans earned three consecutive points on Graceland attacking errors to increase their lead to 15-9. The Yellow Jackets answered swiftly, rallying for six points to tie the game before giving up a service error. A few points were traded before a kill by Keltner started and ended the final eight point rally of the game to give the Trojans their third victory of the tournament.

Jaylyn Freeman led the team with 17 digs while Anna Skrzypchak led with 22 assists.

Game Four: Mount Marty College (18-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-20, 15-9)
In the final game of the tournament, the Trojans faced off against the Lancers of Mount Marty in a battle of five sets. After the Lancers went on an early run and took a 7-2 lead, the Trojans called time out to regain their bearings but the attempt fell flat. Despite benefiting from a multitude of Lancer errors, the Trojans struggled to score consecutive points throughout the entirety of the set. Mount Marty went on to win 18-25.

The second set started in much the same manner as the first as the Lancers again jumped out to a 7-2 lead before a Trojan timeout was called. Trinity dropped the immediate point, but responded with back to back kills by Torres and Williams as the Trojans began to gain momentum. After a Lancer ball handling error, the score was tied at 13-13 before Freeman soared another service ace followed by a kill by Keltner. Mount Marty called for a break but on resuming the game gave up an attacking error and failed to suppress the Trojan attack. An error by TIU gave the Lancers the serve, but a quick response by Torres nullified the point. At 21-16 the Lancers called for their final time out and capitalized on a lapse in Trojan focus to take back two points. TIU wrapped up the set with a kill by Torres.

Capitalizing on Lancer errors, the Trojans went up 3-1 before Mount Marty refocused and took the lead 5-4. A string of errors by TIU combined with the Lancer attack drew a time out by Trinity International that would fall short. Mount Marty claimed the next two points before turning over the serve on a service error. Behind 17-10, the Trojans claimed a stretch of points from Lancer errors before a timeout was called. Both sides traded points with the Lancers still in the lead 21-16 when it was Trinity's turn to call for a break and stall Mount Marty's attack. Plagued by errors, the Trojans would ultimately fall short again in set three.

Torres started the fourth set at the serving position for the Trojans, rounding out a four point rally with a service ace. The Lancers took a single point before a kill by Madison Williams regained it for Trinity International. With TIU leading 7-1, Mount Marty took a time out to try and stall the Trojan attack. Taking back a couple of the points, the Lancers gave up two more errors followed by a kill by Lana Vujosevic to increase Trinity's lead to 11-3. Mount Marty called their second time out, scrambling to regain control of the set. The Trojan's lead held strong throughout the remainder of the set, despite a four point run late by the Lancers. A well-timed break by the Trojans ended the run and started one for Trinity on their way to securing victory and forcing the tie-breaker set.

Evenly matched through the first four sets, the final set for the Trojans and Lancers stayed true to their previous battles and held a tight scoreline throughout. Trinity went up 7-4 before Mount Marty called their first timeout. The Trojans scored three of the next five points, increasing their lead 10-6 before the Lancers called their final time out. Out of the break, the Trojans gave up an attacking error but quickly recovered and turned up the attack again, defeating the Lancers.

Two Trojans notched double-doubles: Brianna Torres (21 kills, 16 digs) and Lana Vujosevic (12 kills, 14 digs). Jaylyn Freeman led the Trojans with 22 digs while Anna Skrzypchak led with 49 assists, tying her season-high set earlier in the tournament.
 
Up Next
The Trojans are on the road again as they pick up their Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule again with a trip to Cardinal Stritch on Tuesday, September 6.
 

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TIU Trojans
TIU Women's Volleyball

 
 

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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.