COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - No. 2 Trinity University Volleyball came one match short of the 2020-21 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship Saturday afternoon after it ceded a 3-1 margin to top-ranked Colorado College at Reid Arena.

The Tigers in maroon (13-3; 12-2 SCAC) took the day's opening frame before they succumbed to their host Tigers in black (17-0, 14-0 SCAC) in straight sets. Saturday's pivotal third set, which finished 30-28, featured 14 of the day's 22 tied scores starting on a deadlock at 13-13 before 10-straight tied scores from 19-19 on.

Senior outside hitter Avery Tuggle (Cedar Creek, Texas / Cedar Creek) led the Trinity offense with 11 kills while junior middle blockers Emily Ellis (Georgetown, Texas / Georgetown) and Emma Funk (Pass Christian, Miss. / Our Lady) each had eight kills to go with seven and sex blocks, respectively.

Junior setter Lexie Acevedo (San Antonio, Texas / Incarnate Word HS) tallied her second double-double of the 2021 spring season with a 17-assist, 12-dig performance. Sophomore setter Marisa Amarino (Calabasas, Calif. / Notre Dame Prep) combined in the passing effort with 22 assists while senior outside hitter Annie Rose Leggett (Austin, Texas / Westwood) joined Acevedo in double-digits with 11 digs.

Acevedo and Funk were named to the SCAC All-Tournament team following the match on Saturday.

The 2020-21 SCAC Championship concludes the spring slate for No. 2 Trinity Volleyball.

The Rundown

No more than two points separated the Tiger squads in the early going until a combo block from Ellis and junior rightside hitter Sara Flynn (Seattle, Wash. / Roosevelt) kickstarted a five-point streak into the first Colorado College timeout. Though the Trinity offense was slow to open the match the Texan Tigers collected eight errors prior to the first break at 12-8 on the board.

Trinity maintained its lead for the duration of the opening frame as it withstood a pair of tied scores at 16 and 17 points each en route to the 25-22 first-set score. Ellis led the way with three of her blocks on the afternoon, supplemented by a pair of Leggett kills. Service execution reigned supreme in the opener as TU kept all but one serve in play while CC failed on six attempts.

An early three-point burst for the hosts represented a consistent margin for most of set two as Trinity stayed within three points until it stopped the action with a timeout at a 19-13 deficit. The glaring disparity in the second to that point had been hitting efficiency as the No. 2 Tigers trailed in attack percentage .421-.143 despite CC only blocking swings.

Six points proved too much to overcome as the momentum carried the home Tigers to a match-tying set-two final, 25-21. Tuggle collected a match-leading eight of her kills at this point on 16 swings while Funk posted a 4-for-5 mark on the attack with a pair of blocks.

Trinity flipped the script to open the third stanza with an 10-4 start that featured kills from Funk, Flynn and junior rightside hitter Sarah Williammee (Denver, Colo. / East) along with the squad's 11th block and fourth ace of the match at that time.

CC responded with a three-point stretch soon after, then clawed its way into another streak of four points, three of which being maroon attack errors, to work into a 13-13 knot to force a TU timeout.

The No. 2 Tigers briefly allowed their host a lead at 16-15 before they rattled off a kill each from Leggett and Williammee along with the second ace of the game for sophomore defensive specialist Nadia Kern (El Paso, Texas / Montwood).

Ten-straight tied scores began with a 19-19 draw, with Colorado College taking its second lead of the set halfway through the competitive stretch at 24-23, prior to the 30-28 conclusion.

Nine of Trinity's 10 points during the run of ties came via kill, led by a pair each from Flynn and Leggett. Perhaps more notably, the ninth kill of the stretch for the maroon Tigers came from Kern who was stationed on the front row as TU ran out of substitutions during the melee.

The final frame opened on an 8-2 run by the host Tigers that Trinity could not climb back from despite coming within two points on four separate occasions in the frame, as late as 19-17 on Ellis's seventh of eight kills, leaving the spring's SCAC Championship just out of reach for TU. Acevedo notched her double-double in the waning moments on her 10th dig, trailing 20-17.

Turn The Page

The 2021 spring schedule for No. 2 Trinity Volleyball came to a close Saturday in Colorado Springs.