East Pennyroyal News

Campbellsville's season comes to a close with a 3-1 defeat in the NAIA Opening Round to Taylor

The Lady Tigers of Campbellsville University (21-7, 13-2 MSC) were on the road at Upland, IN to take on the No. 11 Trojans of Taylor University (31-5, 16-2 CR in the opening road of the NAIA National Tournament. 

Campbellsville University came into the match having recently been recognized as Receiving Votes in the NAIA top 25 National Rankings and were the champions of the regular season of the Mid-South Conference but fell to Cumberland University in the championship match of the conference tournament. Although Campbellsville lost in the tournament finals, the regular season champion automatically earns a bid into nationals. 

Taylor University came into the match as the regular season champion as well as the Crossroads Conference Tournament Champion and was sporting a No. 11 ranking in the NAIA top 25 National Rankings. The atmosphere in the gym as electrifying made up mostly by the home team fans of Taylor University. However, the Lady Tigers made it known quickly that they would there to compete. 

In the first set, both teams battled for points throughout much of the first half. The Lady Tigers were in a 22-19 deficit late in the set, when Coach Johnston called a timeout and made some adjustments. Those adjustments quickly paid dividends as the Lady Tigers were able to capture the victory in the first set, in extra play by the score of 26-24. The Lady Tigers scored 18 kills as a team, in the first set alone and hit a .316 hitting percentage. The Lady Tigers defense limited the Trojans offense to .231 hitting percentage. 

In the second set, trouble would come early and often as the Lady Tigers could not build off of the momentum that they had built during the end of the first set. The Trojans would open up a 5-10 lead on the Lady Tigers and never look back as the blew out the Lady Tigers, 25-15. At times the Trojans forced the Lady Tigers into committing hitting errors while at other times they feasted on their unforced errors. In all, the Trojan's defense tightened up and kept the Lady Tigers to a negative hitting percentage (-.027) while the Trojans hit at a .175 clip. 

In the third set, both teams had seen the best volleyball from each other and had made their adjustments. The Lady Tigers fell into a bit of a hole midway through the first set and could not recover. Their offense continued to struggle, and the Trojans offense was able to put pressure on the Lady Tigers throughout the set. The Lady Tigers fell by the score of 19-25. The Lady Tigers offense was kept to a mere .065 hitting percentage while the Trojans hit a t a .231 clip. 

In the fourth set, the Lady Tigers would claw and scratch their way through the set, but the Trojans were simply too much for the Lady Tigers. After a brief tie at 5-5, the Trojans would lead the rest of the way through the set. Leading by as much as 7 points late in the set, the Lady Tigers would continue to compete, but eventually fell, 20-25. 

The Lady Tigers were led by Paige Merrick who recorded double figures, 44 assists and 16 digs. Marianne Cassiano with 16 kills and Molly Shannon recorded 13 kills. The defense was anchored by Katie Morin with 16 digs and McKenna Barfield ended up with 5 blocks. 

The 2022 campaign, saw first year head coach Peyton Johnston earn the Coach of the Year award, Paige Merrick would set the new career assists record, and took home the Setter of the Year award, and Molly Shannon earned the Player of the Year award for the Mid-South Conference. In all, the 2022 Lady Tigers season would be one to remember as they finished with an overall record of 21-7.     

Original source can be found here.