GEORGETOWN, Texas - No. 3 Trinity University Volleyball returned to Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference action Saturday with a victorious pair over Centenary College and University of Dallas on the campus of No. 16 Southwestern University, both of which were the respective second meetings in the league's double round-robin format for the 2021 campaign.

The Tigers (21-2, 8-0 SCAC) need the minimum to get past the Ladies in the early afternoon match, though found themselves in a fourth set for the first time in a conference match this season against the Crusaders.

Seniors outside hitter Avery Tuggle (Cedar Creek, Texas / Cedar Creek) and rightside hitter Sara Flynn (Seattle, Wash. / Roosevelt) fuelled the offense with 22 and 21 kills, respectively, on the day while the latter also notched five blocks.

The defensive effort was paced by seniors outside hitter Annie Rose Leggett (Austin, Texas / Westwood) and libero Sami Lin (Sugar Land, Texas / Fort Bend Christian) with 23 and 22 digs, respectively.

No. 3 Trinity Volleyball concludes the SCAC weekend in Georgetown with another league rematch, against Austin College, followed by a battle with the host No. 16 Pirates.

Trinity 3, Centenary 0

Both squads traded blows to open the match as 11 tied scores and six lead changes were logged until Trinity regained the lead for good at a 12-11 margin. The Tigers forced the first timeout of the match with a 15-11 advantage. Senior rightside Sarah Williammee (Denver, Colo. / East) pushed four kills past the Ladies to that point, followed by three of Tuggle's 10 in the day's opening contest.

The called stoppage for Centenary backfired as the Tigers aimed to set Flynn heavily and succeeded with three kills in the next four points which led the Ladies to burn their second timeout of the frame. A pair of kills from Leggett powered a four-point burst to close the first, 25-16.

The second verse was the same as the first with 13 more tied scores and four more lead changes were recorded all the way up to a 17-17 draw in the second set. The largest margin of the game for Trinity was a two-point lead at six different scores until back-to-back points from Flynn, one block and one kill, led to a 23-20 margin. Tuggle's sixth kill of the match sealed the second frame, 25-20.

The third frame was handled much sooner as sophomore outside hitter Mackenzie Logan (Calgary, Canada / Bishop Carroll) logged four kills in the Tigers' first six points while all of Trinity's first seven points came via kill, the eighth being a Logan service ace.

Leggett and senior middle blocker Emily Ellis (Georgetown, Texas / Georgetown) stepped up at the net for a pair of blocks on either side of Centenary's first timeout of the third which led to a 7-0 run in total out to a 17-9 advantage.

Logan came back late in the frame with two more kills, six in total for both the game and match, to seal up the victory on Trinity's first double-digit lead of the day, 25-15.

Trinity 3, Dallas 1

Flynn and Tuggle were the primary culprits of the damage done against the Crusaders as each posted 12 kills in the day's final match with hitting percentages of .611 and .417, respectively.

All three Tiger setters saw action against Dallas as senior Alexis Acevedo (San Antonio, Texas / Incarnate Word) paced the group with 17 assists to 12 each for junior Marisa Amarino (Calabasas, Calif. / Notre Dame) and first-year Trinity Herrera (San Antonio, Texas / Clark).

Flynn's match-high four blocks were matched by middle blockers senior Emma Funk (Pass Christian, Miss. / Our Lady) and sophomore Maddie Fate (Croton on Hudson, N.Y. / Croton Harmon) as the Tigers posted 11 blocks in total.

Up Next

No. 3 Trinity Volleyball remains in Georgetown, Texas overnight for its rematch with the Kangaroos, followed by the first of two matchups down the SCAC stretch with No. 16 Southwestern.