The Trojans played four matches this weekend, two on Friday and two on Saturday, that challenged them both physically and mentally.

The first match on Friday afternoon Trinity played against the host of the tournament, University of St. Francis Indiana (5-7). The teams battled back and forth, playing through the fifth game. Trinity was able to pull out the win over the Cougars in the fifth game, which led to winning the match (21-25, 25-27, 25-14, 25-15, 15-7). Taylor Arseneau (Kankakee, IL) and Carly Yattaw (Highlands Ranch, CO) led the offense in attacks with 17 and 16 kills, respectively. Yattaw also had two blocks and Arseneau also had 18 digs. Chelsie Shields (Kearny, NE) held the defense solid with 3 blocks and also had 3 aces. Allison Kingsbury (Aurora, IL) also contained the defense by providing 30 digs.

Trinity went on to compete against Indiana Institute of Technology (7-6) in a three-game match. Unfortunately, the Trojans were unable to answer back to the Warriors in any of the games (17-25, 19-25, 24-26). The third game was quite close throughout its entirety; however, Trinity could not finish it. Trinity dominated the Warriors in blocks in this match with a total of seven team blocks. Again Yattaw dominated in kills, boasting 15. Lindy Monhollon (Cincinnati, OH) had 2 aces and Shields again had 3 blocks.

Saturday's first match began against Taylor University (11-2). Again, Arseneau and Yattaw dominated in kills, both with twelve. The Trinity ladies' effort was strong and unwavering as they played hard and gave it their all, but unfortunately it was not enough to overcome Taylor University, who has only lost two games so far this season. The Trojans started off strong, winning the first game against Taylor, but they consecutively lost the next three (25-23, 19-25, 16-25, 10-25). Defensively Arseneau and Jacqui Thomson (Walnut Grove, MI) provided 14 and 17 digs, respectively. Yattaw and Arseneau again contributed the highs in kills with 12 each.

In the fourth and final match, Trinity played against the Wildcats of Indiana Wesleyan University (4-13). The Trojans played cohesively as one unit the entire match, leading them to beat the Wildcats in four games (25-22, 25-15, 23-25, 25-6). Kristen Sharpley (Marshall, MI) led the Trojans in attacks with 16 kills and a .560 attack percentage. Cheri Stoddard (Muscoda, WI) led in assists with a total of 42. Arseneau hit 13 kills while Thomson contributed 3 aces. Defensively the team had a total of 10 blocks, compared to the Wildcats team total of 7 blocks. Shields and Brynne Eaton (Fredrick, MD) led the team in blocks with 5 and 4, respectively. Shields also had .312 hitting percentage in this match. Arseneau and Thomson also contributed defensively, both with 14 digs.

Head Coach Jill Rokosik had some comments about the tournament. Rokosik said, "This weekend was a big step forward for TIU volleyball as we continue to grow as a cohesive unit. We knew coming into this tournament that we would face tremendous competition and I am proud of the way we stepped up to the challenge."

Carly Yattaw made the all-tournament team, boasting a total of 54 kills, 3.36 kills per game, a .263 hitting percentage, and 8 blocks overall in the tournament.

After this tournament, the women's volleyball team is left with a record of 10-8. The Trojans will play next on Tuesday at 7:00pm against the University of St. Francis Illinois.