Shreveport, Louisiana - The fifth-ranked Trinity volleyball team split its opening matches Saturday at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Divisional, first beating host Centenary College and then losing to second-ranked Colorado College.

MATCH SUMMARIES

The Tigers began the day with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-20) defeat over Centenary before falling 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-19) to Colorado College.

Trinity came out aggressive in the first set and quickly took the lead and never looked back. The Tigers jumped out to an 18-13 lead, and the hosts managed only two points the rest of the way.

The situation in the second set was reversed, as the Tigers faced a 13-18 deficit. Trinity went on a five point run to tie the score at 18 all, and the Ladies would only manage to snag one more point before the Tigers took the second set. 

Trinity led 14-10 in the third stanza, but Centenary continued to battle back and closed the gap to 15-16. A four-point run then gave Trinity a 20-15 advantage. The Ladies kept fighting and tightened to 20-21, when Trinity closed out the match with four consecutive points.

Trinity then went on to face #2 Colorado College later in the day. The Tigers found themselves down 15-22 in the first set with Colorado College, but fought hard to bring the score to 17-22. Trinity continued to fight, but Colorado College eventually took the first set 25-19.

Colorado College offense came out strong in the second set, and the Tigers found themselves at a 12-18 deficit. Unfortunately, Trinity would win only two more points for the rest of the second set.

Trinity came out strong in the third and led 9-7. Colorado College rallied to take an 11-9 lead. A four-point run would give Colorado College 15-10 edge, but the Tigers offense went on the attack and scored the next three points and closed to 13-15. Strong Tiger serving and offense helped the Tigers bring the score within three points at 17-21, but Colorado College eventually took the third set and the match.

NOTABLES

Trinity now stands at 21-6 overall and is 9-3 in the SCAC.

Maggi Linker hit .583 against Centenary with eight kills on 12 attempts and one error.

Kirby Smith hit .428 against the Ladies with eight kills on 16 attempts and one error. Smith had nine kills and eight digs against the Colorado Tigers.

Sarah Mullens fired in six aces against the Ladies, and she now has 162 career aces to her name, which puts her in 12th place in the record books. Mullens' also recorded 19 digs between the two match ups to bring her career total to 1,376, as she moved into 14th place on Trinity's all-time list. 

Katrina Lieberman made 28 assists in the Centenary match and 24 in the pairing with Colorado College.

UP NEXT

The Tigers conclude the final SCAC Divisional of the Year with two matches on Sunday. First up is Austin (TX) College at 10:00 a.m. followed by the University of Dallas (TX) at 2:00 p.m.