MILLIGAN, Tenn. – The No. 12 Trojans began play in the Milligan Mountain Madness Tournament on Friday evening, winning both matches to improve to 5-1 on the young season.
Jaylynn Dunsmore was a critical part of Taylor's success on the day, with a team-leading 34 kills between the two matches and added eight blocks and three digs. Lindsay Springer sprayed the ball around beautifully, falling five assists shy of one hundred on the evening.
TU grabbed a four-set victory over RV Blue Mountain Christian (2-1) in its first match of the day. The Trojans won two sets by the minimum in a tight match against the Toppers.
The opening set went back and forth, with neither team gaining an advantage of more than three points throughout the entirety of the set. The Toppers grabbed their largest lead of the set at 14-11 before two Gracie Conway kills sandwiched an attacking error to knot the score back at 14.
Taylor grabbed the momentum and its first lead of the set on back-to-back blocks by the tandem of Grace Ieremia and Dunsmore for a 20-18 advantage that held until a Chloe Holtz Kill finished off the first set 25-22.
Set two was another tight affair that came down to the wire. After an early 9-6 lead for Blue Mountain Christian, two points or fewer separated the evenly matched squads the rest of the way. With a hitting percentage of only 0.077 in the set, Reagan Kleiman subbed in late and provided a vital block assist alongside Dunsmore to break the deadlock at 23 before a service ace from fellow freshman Suzanne Storey capped the second match 25-23 in the Trojans favor.
After dropping the third set 25-18, Taylor raced out to a 10-5 lead looking to finish the match before a fifth set. The Toppers battled back and eventually tied the set at 23, but kills from Ieremia and Dunsmore shut the door on the comeback and closed the book on the match with another 25-23 set victory.
The junior trio of Dunsmore, Conway, and Ieremia all had double-digit kills in the victory, with Dunsmore and Ieremia adding five blocks each in an impressive display. Falling just short of double digits was Kleiman, who totaled nine kills on 14 swings with a single error for an outstanding .571 hitting percentage.
Shortly after disposing of the Toppers, TU took the court to face hosts Milligan (0-2) in the final match of the day for the tournament.
The first set was tight until a late run by the Buffaloes led them to a 25-19 set one victory as the Trojans hit a paltry -.03 percent before finding their groove again in the second set.
TU battled its way to a 22-17 lead in the second set before a 5-0 tied the score back up heading into the final stretch. The game was locked up at 24 before an attacking error set up Lindsay Springer to deliver a service ace to claim the set in Taylor's favor at 26-24.
The teams traded sets to tie it up at two apiece to set the stage for a decisive fifth set.
The Trojans came out firing, scoring the first six points en route to an impressive 15-4 victory to secure the set and match. Dunsmore, who smashed six kills on six attempts, led the team to an unreal .727 hitting percentage in the final set.
McKaylah Flagle led the squad with 34 digs throughout the matches and added seven assists, while Jen Springer and Storey tied for the team lead with four service aces each.
Taylor takes the court again on Saturday, August 26th, with two more matches in the Milligan Mountain Madness Tournament against Coastal Georgia (2-0) at noon, followed by a match against Southeastern (2-0) at 2:30 pm.
