Volleyball drops home contest

PUC’s volleyball team took on Trinity Christian College in the team’s second home match of the season on Sept. 11. The Trinity Christian team won 3-0, in contrast to PUC’s victory over Indiana University Northwest in PUC’s first home game on Aug. 29.

The match started with Trinity Christian scoring five points in a row and winning the first set 25-10.

PUC started to regain momentum in the second set, building a 5-1 lead.  Their opponents managed to quickly tie things up at 5-5, though. The set remained close afterward, until Trinity broke a final tie by scoring three consecutive points and winning the set 25-22.

The third set was close from the beginning. The audience almost became participants in the tight match when the ball was thrown close to the bleachers. The ball was rescued but was eventually thrown out of bounds, adding another point to PUC’s score.

The set went on to another 19-19 tie.  It was once again broken by Trinity, who scored six points in a row to take the set.

PUC’s head coach Natalie Shadowen said she was not troubled by the loss to Trinity, since they have a good team and that the real story is how close her team kept the game. Shadowen said she was happy with the skill level of her team and expressed confidence in its current direction.

Sarah Lawson, a sophomore for PUC, also noted how close the game was and the skill of the opposing team. She said that, although her team “started slow,” it did well.

“Sticking with them proves we can play with some of the best in our conference,” she said.

The team’s loss ended their winning streak, which PUC’s team had built since its 3-2 win on Aug. 28 at Indiana Kokomo, at three matches. PUC’s team now has a 3-5 record.

PUC and Trinity Christian will play each other again on Oct. 11 in Trinity Christian’s home court in Palos Heights, Ill.

In the meantime, PUC faces Olivet Nazarene at home on Sept. 18 before embarking on a three-game road trip.