SAN ANTONIO - The No. 3 Trinity University volleyball team collected its second straight-sets victory over California Lutheran University in an eight-day span in the Tigers' opening match of the 2021 Trinity National Invitational late Friday afternoon, followed by its second straight-sets victory over a nationally-ranked squad in the same span against University of Northwestern-St. Paul.

Senior outside hitters Annie Rose Leggett (Austin, Texas / Westwood) and Avery Tuggle (Cedar Creek, Texas / Cedar Creek) led the Tiger offense with 21 and 16 kills, respectively. Tuggle added four blocks on the evening while Leggett collected her third double-double of the season against the 18th-ranked Eagles which led to a team-high 23 digs on the day.

Junior libero Nadia Kern (El Paso, Texas / Montwood) kept pace with Leggett, as she equalled the senior's 11-dig output against Cal Lutheran to post a 4.25 digs per set clip for the day.

Junior setter Marisa Amarino (Calabasas, Calif. / Notre Dame) directed traffic to the tune of 38 assists in total while senior setter Alexis Acevedo (San Antonio, Texas / Incarnate Word) posted 19 of her 25 assists in the nightcap which tied Amarino's output.

No. 3 Trinity Volleyball wraps up the 2021 Trinity National Invitational Saturday night at 7 p.m. with an in-region bout against Chapman University.

Game One: Trinity 3, Cal Lutheran 0

The Tigers unleashed their pent-up energy with an 8-1 opening-stretch following the 90-minute delay that accumulated throughout the first day of the 2021 Trinity National Invitational which led to a consistent double-digit margin through most of the first frame. Leggett collected three kills along with three of Trinity's four service aces in the first set, the fourth came from Kern who collected six of her team-high 11 digs in the set.

The script flipped as the visiting Regals were ceded a six-point run to initiate the second frame though the Tigers quickly erased the deficit at a 9-9 draw and regained control with a 7-2 run of their own. Leggett had three more kills during this stretch, though Tuggle paced the Trinity scoring with four kills and one of her two blocks. Senior middle blocker Emily Ellis (Georgetown, Texas / Georgetown) joined Leggett at three kills.

The final set opened as did the first; Trinity stormed out to a 7-1 start and never relinquished the lead, expanding to a nine-point advantage at 20-11. Senior rightside hitter Sarah Williammee (Denver, Colo. / East) joined Tuggle on the reins for the final set with three kills each. Leggett notched another quartet of digs to reach double-figures in the category for the fifth time this season, fourth in a row since the start of last weekend's East to West Battle at Cal Lutheran.

Game Two: Trinity 3, Northwestern-St. Paul 0

Early momentum continued to be a theme for the Tigers as the nightcap opened with a 6-1 Trinity advantage that ballooned to a nine-point spread once at 17-8 before reaching that margin again at the 25-16 final mark. Leggett posted an impressive seven kills in the opening frame on a blistering .600 hitting rate which set the tone for a team mark of .424 in that category for the first set. Tuggle and senior middle blocker Emma Funk (Pass Christian, Miss. / Our Lady) each added four kills and block.

The second set saw Trinity trail in the early going at 3-1 then a handful of tied scores up to the 10-10 draw. All signs pointed to the Tigers from there as the weekend's host dropped a 15-4 streak on the Eagles to the 25-14 conclusion. The Tigers pulled Northwestern-St. Paul below zero in attack percentage column (-0.031) with a powerful net presence from Funk while Leggett again paced the offense with a trio of kills.

Twelve tied scores occurred in the night's final set as the Eagles attempted to claw their way back into the match; the final draw came at 16-16 before one last 7-2 stretch for Trinity shut the door on its second three-set victory of the evening. Funk added four more kills to pace the offense in the final frame while Leggett took a defensive position to the tune of eight digs which granted the third double-double of the season for the senior outside hitter.

Up Next

No. 3 Trinity concludes the 2021 Trinity National Invitational with the Saturday nightcap against Chapman, scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.

The Tigers then host Our Lady of the Lake University Tuesday (Sept. 21) as a makeup match, rescheduled from its home-opening date of September 1, before opening Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play in Colorado Springs, Colo. next weekend on the campus of No. 4 Colorado College.