Fans inside of Odle Arena were on the edge of their seats as Bethel and No. 21 Taylor took their match to five sets on Oct.1.
The Trojans trailed 25-22 in the first two sets, before defeating the Pilots 25-22 and 25-21 in the next two.
Taylor fell behind at 15-8 in the last contest.
Senior defensive specialist, McKaylah Flagle, recorded a season-high 28 digs in the game. She highlighted the team doing a better job of keeping up momentum against Bethel, compared to their 3-0 loss to Indiana Wesleyan in the game prior.
“We talked about wanting to grow in establishing ourselves right off the best and executing the game plan right off the bat,” Flagle said.
Head coach Erin Luthy said the team started out timid in the beginning, but showed pride in their rallying efforts in the third and fourth sets. The women aimed to build confidence in their next practices.
Even in a loss, the Trojans work to maintain their theme of “For His Glory.” According to Luthy, coaching from a place of steadiness, rather than selfishness, is important for this.
““For His Glory” shouldn’t be dependent on our circumstances,” she said. ““For His Glory” is based upon the promises that Jesus has given us are true and good. They are for our good, even when they’re hard.”
Junior middle hitter, Alexa Mader, battled defensively, retaining a team-high of six blocks. She also obtained a season-high of seven kills against Bethel.
Even in personal victories, Mader knew the team’s theme revolved around each other. She held onto the idea that she can love her teammates as Christ loves them.
“It’s not about that [the statistics],” Mader said. “It’s about how we give him the glory in our interactions on the court.”
Taylor maintained their NAIA No. 21 ranking in their next conference game, closing out Goshen in a 3-0 win on Oct. 8.
Luthy described the CL as a “dogfight.” Its high competition has created upsets, including Taylor’s loss to Bethel and Grace’s 3-0 triumph over then No. 22 Marian on Oct. 1.
“We can beat up on each other all we want,” Luthy said. “But we can’t have the bottom five keep beating up on the top five. This literally dumps down the whole conference.”
She has seen past teams win conference games early on, before losing out on positions during championship time. The Trojans focus on the present after each match, expectant that this mindset will produce postseason peaking.
TU keeps their sights set on securing a spot at the NAIA Women’s Volleyball Championship.
The CL is set up in a double round-robin tournament style, meaning every team plays each other twice. The Bethel game marked Taylor’s last game in the first round.
Their second round started with the victory over Goshen and three days later, they defeated the Mount Vernon Nazarene Cougars 3-2. MVNU was ranked No. 13 in the NAIA.
The Trojans will take on the Grace Lancers on Oct. 15 in Winona Lake, Ind. at 7 p.m.
