PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. — Campbellsville could not overcome negative hitting percentages in the middle sets and fell in its first road match of the short season to Trinity Christian, 3-2 (25-22, 11-25, 22-25, 25-22, 11-15).
 
Behind the swinging right arms of Bryce Johnson and Adam Conklin, the Tigers came out of the gates strong. The duo both led CU with five first-set kills – and a remarkable one error between the two. CU finished with 11 kills and just three errors in the opening set.
 
CU (0-2) opened the match with a quick 5-1 run before the Trolls answered by doubling up the Tigers with an 8-4 run and knotting the set at 9-all. The Trolls then took their first lead 12-11, forcing coach Billy Gregory to call a timeout and slow the momentum…. Well it worked. CU rallied with a quick 5-0 run itself and took a 15-12 lead forcing TCC to call a timeout.
 
Out of the break, the Trolls got to within two points a couple of times but Conklin sealed the opening set with a big right hand kill.
 
But the duo of Johnson and Conklin would cool off, as Johnson finished with just 12 kills overall and Conklin paced CU with 13. The Tigers finished with a match-high hitting percentage of .333 in the first set, but followed that with -.185 and -.158 to get behind the Trolls.
 
Trinity Christian held control of the second set throughout by leading 9-3, 16-4 and eventually winning 25-11. The Trolls started the set with seven kills before recording an error. TCC finished with nine kills and two errors and upped their first-set percentage by over 100 points (0.292). CU had five kills and 10 errors.
 
CU struggled once again with its efficiency in the third set but was able to hang around with a 14-14 tie forcing TCC to call a timeout. Out of the break, the Trolls countered with a quick 3-0 run forcing Gregory to try and end the momentum with a timeout of his own. But that didn't stop TCC, as the Trolls eventually went on a 6-0 run to lead 21-14.

Conklin went on a rally at the service line to score three straight points, but the Tigers were unable to overcome the run by Trinity Christian, falling 25-22.
 
After finishing the second and third sets hitting in the negatives, CU came right back in the fourth with a much cleaner set. The Tigers finished with a hitting percentage of .257. and had a match-high 14 kills in set No. 4.
 
It was Rafael Cruz coming in clutch with one of the five blocks for the Tigers to seal the fourth, 25-22.
 
Trinity Christian and Campbellsville were all knotted up at six in the tiebreaker but the Trolls rallied with nine of the next 14 points to win, 15-11.  
 
Nick Costa finished with a match-high 15 kills, while Mike Karl had 11 to round out the Trolls in double-figures.
 
Conklin paced CU with a double-double, 13 kills and 13 digs. Cruz finished one kill shy of a double-double with 10 and 11, respectively. Noel Camello led CU on the defensive side with 22 digs. Hunter Monday led CU with 34 assists.
 
CU finished hitting 0.55 on the night, compared to 0.161 for Trinity Christian. The Tigers were just two kills behind the Trolls but committed 13 more attacking errors (36-23).
 
CU will now face Lincoln College in an Exhibition at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 21.