The Trinity women’s volleyball team came in first at the Trinity Fall Classic Tournament this past weekend, going 2-1 against Our Lady of the Lake University and Bethel University.
Trinity opened the tournament with a 3-0 win against Our Lady of the Lake.
“It went really well, we beat them in three,” said sophomore outside hitter Layne Hubbard. “We stuck to the basics and ended up coming out with an easy win.”
Junior setter Maryn Swierc led the Tigers with 27 assists, 10 digs, and a team-high three aces. Senior middle blocker Jana Tucker recorded seven kills and a .636 hitting percentage, while Hubbard had eight kills and nine digs and sophomore middle blocker Erin Cusenbary led the team with nine kills. First-year defensive specialist Sarah Price had 10 digs, junior defensive specialist Leslie Green had 11 digs, and senior defensive specialist Meredith Erwin contributed with nine digs.
“We were all excited to come out and play, but we also played at a high level, which is really good,” Cusenbary said.
Later that night, Trinity defeated Bethel 3-0.
Tucker led the Tigers with a .435 hitting percentage and 12 kills, while Swierc contributed with 39 assists, 12 digs, and two service aces. Hubbard had 10 kills and 16 digs and Price had 14 digs. Cusenbary and junior middle blocker Kelsey Daniel both had five blocks each.
“We stuck to the game plan and really implemented what we’ve been working on in practice,” Hubbard said. “Everything just came together.”
The Tigers were set to play Central College on Saturday afternoon, but Central’s vans were broken into at the Quarry and their equipment and uniforms were stolen, so they were unable to compete.
Thus, Trinity played Our Lady of the Lake again, this time losing 3-2 in a tight match.
“I thought our team showed a lot of character and we came out and beat them handily the first and second game,” said head coach Julie Jenkins. “The third game we let off a little bit and we opened the door and unfortunately we weren’t able to stop the bleeding.”
Hubbard contributed with 13 kills, 12 digs, a team-best .316 hitting percentage, while Swierc led with 35 assists and 16 digs. Tucker had three kills and four blocks, Erwin had 16 digs and Green recorded nine digs. Daniel contributed with three aces and seven blocks, while Emodi led with 17 kills. Tucker was named the Tournament MVP and Swierc was named to the All-Tournament Team.
“They were desperate to beat us and we weren’t playing the way we usually do,” Cusenbary said.
Next weekend, the Tigers host the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Divisional Tournament, which determines their ranking going into the conference tournament. Trinity is currently ranked third in the SCAC standings with a 4-2 record.
“We’re getting better every week and we’re not even close to having leveled out as a team,” Jenkins said. “We’re still improving and we’re hoping to peak at the conference weekend where it matters most.”
