UPLAND, Ind. -- For the second consecutive season the Indiana Wesleyan University volleyball team earned a regular season sweep of Grant County rival Taylor (Ind.).

Indiana Wesleyan defeated Taylor 3-1 tonight in Odle Arena in Upland by scores of 25-18, 18-25, 25-22, 25-23. IWU has won the past six meetings in the series dating back to 2011.

“Our girls came into a really tough environment and really persevered,” said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Candace Moats. “We thought we played in a way that really honored God and our team’s mission.”

The Wildcats were led by its three seniors tonight in Kristine Egebrecht, Rae Brandes, and Rebecca Brandes.

Egebrecht led all players with 17 kills as she amassed a .324 hitting percentage. The middle blocker added two solo blocks and two block assists. Rae Brandes tied for the second most kills in the match with 15 and she added 12 digs and two block assists. Rebecca Brandes had a match-best 31 digs as the IWU libero.

Indiana Wesleyan also received a lot of support tonight from its sophomore class. Kristin Predajna was the third Wildcat with double-digit kills as she smashed 13 with a .233 kill percentage. Setter Katey Holler assisted on 48 Wildcat kills in addition to tallying eight digs.

The Wildcats totaled 53 kills on Friday compared to just 37 for the Trojans. IWU also garnered five service aces which came from five different players.

Indiana Wesleyan improves its record to 18-5 overall and 9-1 in Crossroads League play while Taylor drops to 12-7 and 8-2 in league play. Both Taylor losses in league play have come to Indiana Wesleyan and the loss ends their eight match win streak.

IWU returns to the court next Friday for another huge Crossroads League showdown. This time it is with Bethel (Ind.) at 7 p.m. in Mishawaka, Indiana. Bethel gave Indiana Wesleyan its only league loss of the season to date.