MARION, Ind. -- Luckey Arena was extremely loud Friday night as Indiana Wesleyan University volleyball rekindled their rivalry with Taylor (Ind.). Indiana Wesleyan pulled out an exciting 3-1 victory in the early Crossroads League matchup.

“The crowd was phenomenal,” said IWU head coach Candace Moats. “I could sense a camaraderie with our fans and the other IWU teams that were here tonight. They were really with us and it was a lot of fun.”

It was White Out Night in Luckey Arena and the home fans left happy with the four game victory over the Trojans. IWU won by scores of 25-19, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23.

“This win brings a cohesiveness of belief that we really can play at a good level,” stated Moats. “I think there were questions of that. Tonight was an opportunity to build that confidence that way wavering. That’s what I’m most excited about, we did it together.”

Indiana Wesleyan raced out to a quick 25-19 victory in the first game but later trailed 21-17 to Taylor in the second game. Indiana Wesleyan called a timeout and then reeled off eight of the next 10 points to win the match 25-23 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

“Volleyball is a momentum sport,” said Moats. “We went and told Banner Rodgers (FR/Carrollton, Texas), who is one of our better servers, we don’t care if you miss it but go for it. Go as hard as you can. And she got us going and got them off the net which allowed us the opportunity to get some free balls. Banner was a big reason that we came back in that game.”

Taylor, who is receiving votes in the NAIA Poll, responded in game three with the first eight points. But Indiana Wesleyan fought back quickly with a run to close the deficit to 10-8. But Taylor never surrendered the lead in the game to force a fourth set. Midway through the fourth game, Indiana Wesleyan stretched the advantage to 19-14. Taylor made one final push but it was not enough in a 25-23 Wildcat victory.

“I was looking forward to this night because I knew the best of the best would come out from both teams,” added Moats. “I knew with Taylor’s accomplishments that they have done in this early part of the season that they have that edge of confidence and they are a very good team. That really helped us bring that next level and it was neat to see the confidence and poise that I didn’t know was there yet.”

Freshman Morgan Miller (FR/Goshen, Ind.) and senior Alijah Mulitauopele (SR/Colorado Springs, Colo.) paced Indiana Wesleyan with 13 kills and Remy Bucknor (SO/Euless, Texas) added 12. Katey Holler (JR/Marion, Ohio) had a season-high 48 assists while Bucknor and Morgan each had one solo block. Four Wildcats had double digit digs and were led by Ashlen Buck (SO/Brazil, Ind.) with 18.

The win is the seventh straight for Indiana Wesleyan as they improve to 8-3 overall and 3-0 in the Crossroads League. Taylor drops to 9-3 with a 1-2 league mark.

Indiana Wesleyan is right back at it tomorrow afternoon. IWU hosts Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) at 1 p.m. in Luckey Arena.