Flagle Eclipses 2,000 Digs as Taylor Sweeps Bethel to Cap Regular Season

MISHAWAKA, Ind. – McKaylah Flagle eclipsed 2,000 career digs early in the first set as Taylor capped the regular season with an emphatic sweep of Bethel on the road.

Flagle quickly reached the milestone on Wednesday and is the eighth Trojan in program history to hit 2,000. The senior libero finished the night with 12 digs and currently sits in seventh with 2,010.

Taylor came out of the gates on fire, rocketing out to a 7-2 lead after a kill by Ruth Anderson, who led TU with nine kills and added a pair of blocks in an impressive display after being named the NAIA National Defender-of-the-Week.

The lead continued to expand to 22-10, with Reagan Kleiman firing a set-high six kills to pace an efficient attack, which hit .286 with 14 kills in a 25-19 opening set victory.

The Trojans continued their hot play with an early 8-3 advantage. Lindsay Springer was dynamic at the service line with five aces, including one to push the lead to 19-12. Springer notched 16 assists and seven digs in a great outing.

BU (16-15, 8-10) finally woke up and surged to within one as Haley Biedenbach had three assists, two aces, and a block in a 7-1 run.

After a timeout, the purple and gray scored the final five points and finished it with another ace, this one by Margo Hernandez, who led the squad with 18 assists.

The early set success continued in the third as Springer had three aces to go ahead 8-1 and force an early timeout from the Pilots.

Bethel scored the next four points and hung with Taylor until back-to-back points forced another timeout with TU ahead 15-8.

The Pilots scored seven of the next nine points and trailed by two. Taylor controlled the finish, trading points and holding the lead until Anderson closed the book on the match with her final kill of the evening.

The Trojan attack was balanced as six players recorded between five and nine kills and hit .287 as a team with just 10 errors. Taylor also stood tall at the service line with ten aces, the second most this season.

RV Taylor (20-10, 11-7 CL) will host a matchup against Spring Arbor (22-9, 9-9 CL) in the Crossroads League Tournament Quarterfinals on Saturday, November 8 at 7:00 pm inside Odle Arena.