Vestal Shines in the Middle as Trojans Split on Day One of the Big Sky Challenge

BUTTE, Mont. – The Trojans (5-1) split a pair of matches to open play at the Big Sky Challenge on Friday, with the offensive duo of Daya Vestal and Ellie Frey leading the charge.

Vestal was outstanding in the middle, totaling 20 kills and only two errors on just 29 attacks. The standout sophomore added six blocks, while Frey led the squad with 29 total kills and added five service aces throughout the night.

The Trojans cruised to a sweep over Evergreen (0-2) in the opening match, winning all three sets by eight or more points as the front line hit at an impressive .378 clip.

The squads traded points in the first set before Vestal and Reagan Salzbrenner delivered back-to-back kills, and Frey capped the run with an ace to take a lead that would not be given up the rest of the way.

Taylor was dynamic at the service line in the opening set, delivering three aces and benefiting from six errors by Evergreen to get the comfortable win.

An early deficit in set two was emphatically erased by the Trojans with a 12-2 run fueled by four kills by Salzbrenner and a pair of service aces by Frey. Salzbrenner had five of her team-high 11 kills in the set as the senior hit an efficient .588 with one error on 17 attacks.

The TU frontline could not be stopped in the final set, hitting a blistering .500 with 18 kills as Frey notched five in the set, followed closely by Salzbrenner with four.

A four-set loss against Montana State-Northern (2-3) ended the season-opening five-game winning streak for Taylor, as the Trojans could not contain the Skylights' efficient attack.

The Trojans took a late lead in the opening set on a Vestal kill, but a 5-1 run swung the set to MSUN, who prevailed 25-22.

Taylor took an early 11-9 lead in the second before a trio of attacking errors, which plagued TU the entire night, capped five straight points for the Skylights. The Trojans kept it close until a 5-2 score ended the set abruptly.

Everything went right for the Trojans in the third set as the team hit .531 with 20 kills led by Frey and Reagan Kleiman, who produced 12 combined kills in the set win.

The momentum carried into the fourth set, and TU took an early 6-2 advantage as Kleiman delivered two more kills. MSUN stormed back to take the lead, with six of the next seven points. The squads went back-and-forth until a 6-0 forced a TU timeout, trailing 20-16. The deficit proved too much to overcome, and Taylor fell 25-19 to end the night.

The Trojans will face a pair of top ten teams to finish play at the Big Sky Challenge, taking on No. 5 Eastern Oregon (3-0) at 1:00 pm before facing off with No. 10 Providence (1-1) at 5:00 pm.