BABSON PARK, Mass. - No. 3 Trinity University Volleyball extended to a 12-match winning-streak Friday night following a pair of victories in the greater Boston area over Endicott College in five sets, then over No. 22 Babson College in four frames for its fourth victory over a nationally-ranked opponent in 2021.

The Tigers (18-1, 6-0 SCAC) snapped the longest active home winning-streak in NCAA III for Babson at 45 matches which dated back to October 7, 2017 and a 34-match non-conference home winning-streak that started on October 3, 2015.

By virtue of breaking the Beavers' streak, Trinity now holds the nation's second-longest active home winning-streak at 33 matches, which began with a straight-sets victory in conference play over University of Dallas on October 21, 2018. The nation's longest home winning-streak resides with No. 1 Johns Hopkins at 44 in-a-row.

Defense overall marked Friday's action as Trinity dominated the block. Senior rightside hitter Sara Flynn (Seattle, Wash. / Roosevelt) paced a three-headed monster up front with 13 blocks on the day, followed by middle blockers junior Brette Thornton (Rockwall, Texas / Rockwall) and sophomore Maddie Fate (Croton on Hudson, N.Y. / Croton Harmon) with 12 and 11 blocks, respectively. All three Tigers tied their respective career-highs in the Babson match. Thornton also collected a precise outing on offense with 16 kills coming on just 26 swings for an error-free .615 attack rate. Fate posted 12 kills on a .400 mark.

Junior libero Nadia Kern (El Paso, Texas / Montwood) also tied a career-high with 18 of her 35 total digs (4.375/set) between Friday's victories in the Endicott match. Her presence in the back row, along with the Tigers' forceful presence on the block, pulled the 22nd-ranked Beavers down to a measley .014 attack percentage and enabled Trinity to overcome its test against the Babson defensive effort.

Junior setter Marisa Amarino (Calabasas, Calif. / Notre Dame) piloted the Trinity offense with 54 assists in Friday's action including a career-high 29 in the afternoon victory.

Senior outside hitters Annie Rose Leggett (Austin, Texas / Westwood) and Avery Tuggle (Cedar Creek, Texas / Cedar Creek) each notched double-doubles as two of four Tigers with 10-plus kills (15 and 11, repsectively) against the Gulls while they each eclipsed double-digit digs in the second match as well, with totals of 22 and 27 digs, respectively.

No. 3 Trinity Volleyball remains in the Greater Boston area overnight in preparation for No. 18 Massachussetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University, who also received votes in this week's AVCA national poll.

Trinity 3, Endicott 2 (21-25, 25-15, 28-26, 23-25, 15-9)

The Tigers held a 13-10 advantage after the first frame had opened with multiple consecutive side-outs, with kills from five different Trinity players. The first of two key bursts for the Gulls came as a 6-0 stretch marked the final lead change of the frame, then a 5-0 streak by Endicott at 18-17 sealed the Tigers' first opening-frame loss of 2021.

The combined .397 hitting percentage from the opening frame swung to Trinity in the second en route to the 25-15 tally as the Tigers hit over .400 in back-to-back frames to start the match while Endicott faded under the .200 mark for the remainder of the match. Trinity took a 5-4 advantage with one of Tuggle's 11 kills in the match, then methodically increased its advantage as the lone double-digit lead came on the final tally.

After it appeared to have taken away momentum, Trinity found its opponent was up to the challenge. Just as the Gulls' offense faded in the second, the Tiger offense descended from its impressive offensive start and initiated a seesaw affair that became the Tigers' first set of 2021 to continue past the 25-point mark and finish at 28-26.

Endicott quickly became the Tigers' most persistent opponent in recent weeks as Trinity ceded a 10-3 run to the Gulls after leading by as many as seven points during the set to conclude the fourth frame, which forced just the second fifth set of the season for the nation's third-ranked squad on a 25-23 tally.

A 15-9 tally in favor of the Tigers marked their second five-set victory of the season. Ten of Trinity's 15 points were accounted for by the trio of Fate, Flynn and Thornton to ultimately shut the door on Endicott.

Trinity 3, No. 22 Babson 1 (25-16, 25-14, 20-25, 25-19)

The Tigers returned to Staake Gym refreshed for its 6:45 p.m. ET match, and proved it with back-to-back double-digit victories to open, though a defensive struggle loomed once again. Trinity posted a .303 attack rate in the opening frame to Babson's .088, much to the credit of Fate who had three of her seven blocks in the opener.

Trinity again dramatically out-paced the Beavers in the second stanza as it pinned down Friday's host to a negative-.222 hitting rate led by three of Thornton's blocks as Babson committed 12 attack errors in attempts to avoid the Tigers' front line.

The pendulum briefly swayed toward the home squad as the Beavers squeaked past another potential Trinity sweep with an 8-1 skid in the closing moments of the third, only three of Babson's eight points in that stretch came via kill.

The fourth frame saw the Tigers return to form, take the final lead change at 10-9 and extend as far as seven points en route to their fourth victory over a nationally-ranked opponent this season, snapping the nation's longest active home winning-streak in NCAA III at 45 games.