Transylvania Volleyball leads the way in conference play this season as they host the HCAC tournament tomorrow here at the Beck Center. They are the regular season conference champions due to their impressive 8-1 conference record this year.
Our Pioneers had an especially difficult out of conference schedule this season: they have faced five different top 25 teams throughout the course of this season. Those teams being #10 Washington (Mo.), #25 Berry, #8 Emory, #3 Wittenberg, and Thomas More twice.
Junior Hadley Trenaman spoke about about their rigorous out of conference schedule and how that has prepared them for postseason play. “Playing some of the top teams in the nation at the beginning of the season was extremely challenging. I think our team has learned a lot through this process and really grown together to become a unit. This style of playing has prepared us to play to a higher level when facing our opponents in conference. We know what is out there and are ready to do big things this post season.”
The Pioneers are led by two-time offensive conference player of the week, junior Jordan Horne, who is third in kills per set. Sophomore Ellie Stigger who was HCAC Rookie of the year and also achieved HCAC offensive player of the week honors is third in the conference in blocks per set and junior Addy Tonn is fifth in the conference in that department. Also, reigning HCAC Offensive Player of the Year, junior Hannah Talkers is fourth in the conference in assists per set.
The Pioneers have proven to be a deep team this year by doing a great job of rotating a number of players each game to keep fresh legs on the court. They are standing at an impressive record of 14-10 going into the conference tournament. They have built some momentum going into this tournament with victories over Mt. St. Joseph’s and Manchester in straight sets, and Transylvania has won eight out of their last nine games.
Saturday starts the conference tournament with our Pioneers taking on Bluffton at 2pm. They defeated Bluffton 3-1 earlier in the year when they played against them. If they take down Bluffton, they will face the winner of Rose-Hulman vs. Earlham on Sunday to determine the winner of the tournament. The winner of this tournament will automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament.
Be sure to cheer on your Pioneers at the Beck Center tomorrow at 2:00PM as they take on the Bluffton Beavers going into post season play!
