Trinity’s football, volleyball, men’s soccer and women’s soccer teams are no strangers to success, but it’s rare that all four manage to win a conference title in the same season — yet it happened this season.
In football, Trinity won the SAA outright in each of the last two seasons. However, this year would prove to be a challenge for the Tigers, as departures forced younger players to take bigger roles.
One example is senior Ryan Back, who took over as the team’s starting quarterback. This season, Back recorded 20 passing touchdowns and over 2,600 passing yards.
“The results I had this season can be attributed to the belief from the coaches and the encouragement and support they gave me in years I wasn’t the starter,” Back said.
The team began the year with a 2-2 record, including a week four loss to conference foe Centre College. This put Trinity in a difficult position to make the postseason, but the Tigers would finish the regular season with six straight wins, including an overtime thriller against Berry College. Trinity was able to capture a joint SAA title alongside Berry and Centre, marking the fourth consecutive year they have gotten at least a piece of the conference championship.
“At the beginning of the year, I think there was still a lot of figuring that out, both on the field and off the field. How to lead, how to be comfortable on the field and make plays,” Back said. “I think the results of the rest of the season demonstrate a lot of guys getting comfortable in their new roles and making the most of it.”
Trinity volleyball is also no stranger to conference success, having won the SCAC 22 times and even advancing to the Division III National Championship just two years ago. However, junior libero and team captain Jenna Rodriguez noted that this year’s team got off to a slow start, being swept in an early tournament.
“That was kind of a shock to Trinity volleyball because that’s never happened in my three years,” Rodriguez said.
Nonetheless, the team was able to turn it around a month later as they took down New York University in a rematch from two years ago.
“We played NYU in the Final Four, in the semifinal to go to the National Championship, and I’ve only played NYU twice in my career. … They’re kind of a rival,” Rodriguez said.
This win sparked a 17 game winning streak. During those 17 games, Trinity had a stretch where they won 24 of 26 sets, beating teams in convincing fashion. They swept their conference tournament and won two playoff games before falling to Emory University, the sixth ranked team in the country.
As for soccer, both teams built on past success with dominant regular seasons. The men’s and women’s teams combined for one total loss in the regular season, and both teams found success in different ways. The men boasted an elite offense, scoring upwards of three goals in 14 of their 23 games. Meanwhile, the women played shutdown defense, shutting out their opponents 19 times.
The women’s team relied on their defense the entire year, only mustering three goals in four playoff games. However, senior goalkeeper Lauryn Lewis stepped up, only allowing two goals all postseason.
“I was real nervous, and I think our whole team was,” Lewis said. “But I think the further you make it, more of those nerves turn into excitement because, obviously, every game can be your last, but you want to extend it as far as you can.”
The men’s team was eliminated in the third round, and the women followed in the fourth. However, both seasons marked significant improvements over last year’s postseason runs for each team. The postseason was particularly significant for senior players, including senior defender William Powell, who were playing their last games in maroon and white.
“It was brilliant to continue playing with all the boys. We came together so well and were all so close by the end,” Powell said. “What we put in we got out.”
While no Trinity sports team was able to win a national championship in the fall, all of them turned in successful seasons. Each team faced adversity and came out the other side to bring a trophy back to campus.
