SAN ANTONIO - No. 1 Trinity University Volleyball earned straight-set victories over East Texas Baptist University and Hendrix College (Ark.) on the opening day of the 2021 Trinity Fall Classic, the first of two home tournaments during September.

The Tiger offense was paced by the senior outside hitter duo of Avery Tuggle (Cedar Creek, Texas / Cedar Creek) and Annie Rose Leggett (Austin, Texas / Westwood) who combined for 44 kills across Friday's six sets of action.

Junior middle blocker Brette Thornton (Rockwall, Texas / Rockwall) led the Trinity front line as she took part in eight blocks on the day, including a career-high six in the victory over East Texas Baptist. Fellow junior libero Nadia Kern (El Paso, Texas / Montwood) led the back row with 26 digs, a career-high 18 of which came in the nightcap victory over the Warriors.

No. 1 Trinity Volleyball takes the court Saturday for two more matches to conclude the 2021 Trinity Fall Classic, with matchups against Whitworth University (Wash.) and Concordia University (Texas) at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.

Game One: Trinity 3, ETBU 0

The battle of Tigers opened in favor of the maroon with a dominating 25-9 tally in the opening frame, including an 8-1 opening-stretch that featured three service aces from Kern (2) and Leggett (1) and a pair of kills from senior rightside hitter Sara Flynn (Seattle, Wash. / Roosevelt).

As Trinity began to rotate further into the depth chart, the Tigers still collected a pair of 25-18 tallies to round out the season-opener. At the final whistle, 15 of Trinity's 18 players hit the court.

The afternoon's second set remained within three points all the way to a tie at 16-16. Trinity then dropped a 7-0 run on the visiting Tigers capped by one of senior middle blocker Emma Funk's (Pass Christian, Miss. / Our Lady) trio of kills on seven clean attempts.

Once again, the third frame was tied at 16-16, though a different script had been written for the conclusion. Trinity found itself behind 13-5 early on though elected to play through which paid off as the Tigers mounted a 20-5 charge from that point on including a 6-0 run to finish off the season-opening victory.

By the match's conclusion, Thornton had collected six blocks to lead Trinity to 10 total blocks as a unit, wrapping up a quality defensive effort to hold ETBU to a .102 hitting clip.

Game Two: Trinity 3, Hendrix 0

The Trinity offense erupted in Friday's primetime match, to the tune of a .408 hitting rate on 49 kills, simultaneously stiffling the Hendrix attack to a .085 mark in the same category.

Tuggle and Leggett collected the majority of their damage on the day in the nightcap with 15 and 12 kills, respectively. Leggett's kills came on a blistering .524 attack percentage while Tuggle coupled her 15 kills with 13 digs for the first double-double of the 2021 season for the Tigers.

The offensive firepower came through excellent execution from the setter duo of senior Alexis Acevedo (San Antonio, Texas / Incarnate Word) and junior Marisa Amarino (Calabasas, Calif. / Notre Dame Prep) as they combined for 38 assists while keeping the ball in the air defensively with 11 digs. Acevedo even took matters into her own hands with a pair of kills on three attempts.

Kern's new career-high 18 digs led the Tigers to 54 total at the conclusion of night which provided the opportunity for three more Tigers after Tuggle and Leggett to collect at least five kills: Flynn (6), Thornton (5) and senior rightside hitter Sarah Williammee (Denver, Colo. / East) (5).

Chasing 1,000

Trinity Volleyball's longtime Head Coach Julie Jenkins earned career victories 986 and 987 Friday night (958 in her 37th season at Trinity).

Coach Speak

"Both wins today over ETBU and Hendrix were well-earned wins," Jenkins began. "Our Tigers started out aggressive in both matches and never let up. What stood out today was our dominant serving and our fast-tempo offense. We'll start all over tomorrow and earn every set."

Up Next

The nation's preseason No. 1 squad returns to Calgaard Gym for the second and final day of the 2021 Trinity Fall Classic Saturday to battle West Region foes Whitworth and Concordia. Match times are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.

All matches of Saturday's Fall Classic action will be streamed live on Tiger Network. The all-tournament team will be selected at the conclusion of the Trinity-Concordia match.