Earlier this year, Tiger volleyball traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, to compete in the East-West Battle. The Tigers were ranked fifth and competed against three other nationally ranked teams they had previously faced: No. 4 John Hopkins, No. 9 Claremont-Mudd Scripps and No. 16 Washington University.
The first game on Friday, Sept. 6, was against No. 4, John Hopkins, which the Tigers lost 1-3 — the team’s first loss of the season. Connelley McWilliams, sophomore right side hitter, had a set-winning kill against the Blue Jays to win the third set and avoid a clean sweep, but the team was unable to mount a comeback in the fourth set.
Game two was on the same day against Claremont-Mudd Scripps. Just like game one earlier in the day, the final score was a 1-3 loss. Fifth-year outside hitter Mackenzie Logan had 22 kills in the match, leading the team offensively.
After a tough day one, the Tigers played their third game of the weekend against Washington University. Trinity lost the game 1-3, ending their time at the tournament. The team’s two fifth-years, Maddie Fate and Mackenzie Logan, both had 10 kills in the game. The third set featured four aces in a row from Trinity first-year Brynn Bishop, but the Bears ultimately won the fourth set after a close match.
After the Tigers’ performance, McWilliams and sophomore right side hitter Courtney Pope sat down to reflect on the weekend. The girls agreed that the team was excited to play, even though the East-West Battle is admittedly one of the hardest they compete in.
“The team was really excited to go because all the teams we played were ranked teams,” Pope said. “A lot of them are in the top 10, and they were opponents that we had seen before.”
After a hard fought first day, the team regrouped in a team meeting to discuss how to attack the next game. The team reflected on strengths and areas to improve within their performance.
“We lacked intensity,” McWilliams said. “We didn’t start strong, and I think that’s why we would lose the first two sets. We get really pumped and excited, but that didn’t transition to us starting strong on the court.”
Even though the Tigers went 0-3 in the tournament, there were still notable aspects of the Tigers performance.
“I think we did really well at fighting back when we were down,” McWilliams said. “In the third set, we would always fight back and win the set. The fourth was always a battle too, no matter what the first two sets looked like.”
Moving forward, the team is ready to put the weekend behind them. Regarding the Tigers upcoming games, the girls shared how they plan to alter their performance.
“The coaches emphasized that what happened last weekend is in the past,” Pope said. “I think we’re gonna come out really excited, really strong and having our home crowd there is gonna be super helpful. Also having some of our newcomers for the next coming year there, it’s gonna help light a fire.”
Despite the team’s performance, the girls were optimistic about the rest of the season and ready to put the East-West Battle behind them. They were able to do so the following weekend, with a tournament at Trinity posting strong results. The Tigers lost their opening match 3-2 against Endicott, but recovered with a 3-0 win over Covenant and a 3-2 win over Eastern to close out the weekend. They start conference play this weekend, traveling to Seguin, Texas, against Texas Lutheran and Georgetown, Texas, to take on Southwestern University. The team’s next home game will be Thursday, Oct. 17, against Schreiner University.
