Adams Climbs to 10th All-Time in Kills at Taylor

Adams Climbs to 10th All-Time in Kills at Taylor

UPLAND, Ind. – RV Taylor shook off a rocky opening set on Friday night inside Odle Arena and rode a dominant showing from Amanda Adams to a comeback win, as the senior moved into 10th on Taylor’s all-time kills list with 18 in a four-set victory against visiting Spring Arbor.

Adams and the Trojans struggled to find their rhythm in a sloppy opening set that saw TU post 12 hitting errors and just six kills in a 25-15 defeat.

Spring Arbor (8-10, 1-5 CL) continued to battle the Purple and Gold midway through the second set, with a Ryan Czerniak kill giving Taylor a slight 13-10 edge. Nikki Parrett’s serve then turned the entire night around for TU, as the senior unleashed 10-straight serves during an extended Trojan rally that eventually opened a 22-10 gap. Grace Isaacs put the exclamation point on the set by hammering an uncontested swing that knocked over a SAU defender to clinch the 25-12 rout.

Taylor kept the pressure on, slamming seven of its first eight swings for kills in the third set and led comfortably throughout the remainder of the contest, taking 25-19 and 25-14 victories to secure the match win.

The turnaround from TU followed that of Adams, who posted 16 kills and a .517 attack percentage over the final three sets of the evening to finish with 18 kills and a .400 clip in the match. The 18 kills moved Adams to 1,453 for her career and into 10th on Taylor’s all-time kills list, just 13 shy of matching Emilie York (2004-2007) for ninth on that list and second in TU’s rally-scoring era.

Czerniak, Isaacs and Sarah Scott followed with 10, eight and seven kills each, as Kacy Bragg spread around the action with 39 assists. Bragg also added 12 digs for another double-double and Isaacs continued her strong play at the net with four blocks.

The Taylor back row was stout on Friday as well, with Stephaney Fifield posting 23 digs, Parrett adding 12 and Karli Ware collecting 10. That trio also gave Spring Arbor trouble with their service game, combining for four of Taylor’s five saves on the night.

RV Taylor (15-2, 5-1 CL) will return to action on Saturday, with a 3:00 pm tilt against No. 16 Indiana Wesleyan (8-1, 5-1 CL) inside Odle Arena.