Trinity Volleyball began their season in Calgaard Gymnasium this past weekend as they hosted the Trinity National Invitation Tournament. The Tigers came into the season ranked number two in the country, coming off a season where they made the national championship. This time around, the Tigers started strong, winning their first three games. However, the team surprisingly dropped their final game, losing all three sets in the best of five.
The Tigers first played against the Whitworth University Pirates, who came down from Spokane, Washington to play in the tournament. Whitworth battled back and forth with Trinity, particularly in the first set, which featured five lead changes. However, despite Whitworth hanging around, they would ultimately drop the first two sets. The Pirates would win the third set by a score of 25-16 but would drop the fourth set, bringing an end to the game and giving Trinity the win.
Trinity’s next opponent was the Birmingham Southern College (BSC) Panthers, who were looking for their first win of the tournament. In the first set, the Tigers jumped to a 14-2 lead and never looked back.
Trinity dominated BSC, as they collected the win in three sets, winning each set by at least seven points. The Panthers were simply no match for the Tigers, finishing the game with a hitting percentage of -.047 compared to Trinity’s .295.
In Trinity’s third game of the tournament, they played the University of Texas at Dallas Comets. The Comets gave Trinity a battle, particularly in the second set. With the score tied at 27, the Tigers were able to get the final two points of the set, finishing it off with a kill from super senior Brette Thornton and putting them up two sets to none. The Tigers would eventually collect the sweep, taking down the Comets 25-20 in the third set and winning the three sets to none in the best-of-five game.
Trinity went into its final match undefeated, winning its previous three games. However, they played their fourth game against another team who had done the same, the 15th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans. The two teams started the game by trading points to a 10-10 tie, but Oshkosh, the only other ranked team in the tournament, got the better of Trinity in the first set. Oshkosh also took the second set, scoring the final five points to do it. The result of set three was no different but more decisive, as Oshkosh opened up an 18-9 lead and won the set convincingly. This completed Oshkosh’s sweep of the Tigers and gave them a 4-0 record in the tournament.
Overall, it was a successful weekend for Trinity Volleyball, but it was not as successful as they had hoped. The Tigers had come into their match against Oshkosh having won 23 of their last 24 regular season games, the only loss being to the University of California-Santa Cruz late last year. While losing in a sweep was disappointing for the Tigers, they still hold a 3-1 record and much promise for this season as they attempt to play for the national championship once again.
Results
1. UW-Oshkosh (4-0)
2. Trinity (3-1)
3. Texas Lutheran (2-1)
4. Birmingham-Southern (1-3)
5. Whitworth (1-3)
6. UT-Dallas (0-3)
