COLORADO SPRINGS - No. 10 Tiger Volleyball would continue their undefeated reign in SCAC play with a sweep of Centenary College and a reverse sweep of Colorado College.
The Tigers would dominate their first match of the day by sweeping the Ladies of Centenary College. However, the Tigers would have to play in back-to-back matches which would not be easy. Colorado played a good match, but the heart and skill of the Tigers were too much and proved who was the top cat in the conference.
Game One - Trinity 3, Centenary 0
The Tigers were flat-out dominant in the entire match against the Centenary College Ladies. In the first set, the Tigers would get out to a hot 7-2 start. The Tigers would continue their offensive prowess when senior
Mackenzie Logan (Calgary, Canada / Bishop Carroll) put town back-to-back points. Before the ladies could reach double digits, the Tigers had already put 18 points on the board. Towards the end of the set, it would become the
Marissa Drange (Boerne, Texas / Champion) show, as she would have her hand in the next three points for the Tigers, with the last being a set-ender. The Tigers would take the set 25-15 and go up 1-0 in the game.
The second set would be more of the same for the Tigers. The Ladies took the first point of the set but that was the only lead that the Tigers would let them have. The Tigers would take back the lead and then some, jumping out to an 8-2 lead. The Tigers would make a great move and go on a 7-2 run, highlighted by two Tiger blocks that sent the Tigers into a frenzy. Although the Ladies could take a few points, fifth-year
Nadia Kern (El Paso, Texas / Montwood) wanted to relive her time as an outside hitter when she sent the final ball of the set to the floor. The Tigers would take the set 25-19 and a 2-0 lead.
The third set started off with
Kendall DeRivel (Westlake Village, California / Viewpoint) continuing her dominance on the service line, hitting the Ladies with two aces. In the middle of the set, the Tigers would hit a five-point swing capped off by a Tiger block, which would get into the heads of Ladies' hitters. Later on,
Maddie Fate (Croton on Hudson, New York / Croton Harmon) would send a ball to the floor and hit the service line. With Fate serving, the Tigers would score five straight points, all on Ladies' hitting mistakes, and that would bring the score to 17-10. The Tigers were ready to end the set when Logan got a kill to bring the game to match point. Another error by the Ladies would lead to a 25-17 Tiger victory.
Logan would lead the Tigers offensively with nine kills while Drange added seven of her own. Defensively, it would be
Jenna Rodriguez (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) who would have 11 digs and
Brette Thornton (Rockwall, Texas / Rockwall) had four total blocks.
Game Two - Trinity 3, Colorado 2
The Tigers got the Tiger vs Tiger matchup started the right way with a
Courtney Pope (New Braunfels, Texas / Canyon) kill. Trinity would pull out to a 5-3 lead, but Colorado would score four unanswered points to take the lead back. Trinity would fight to get the lead back but Colorado would go on multiple, multi-point runs to take the first set 17-25.
Trinity would get the party started with a Fate kill but Colorado would score four unanswered later in the set that would give them the lead. Colorado would score another four points in a row to bring the score to 15-8 in favor of the opposing Tigers. The Tigers would fight back with four points of their own highlighted by a Fate and Pope block. After a Colorado timeout, they would go on a 6-1 run to end the set by a score of 17-25.
Trinity wouldn't back down though as set three opened up with Trinity taking a 8-3 lead early in the set. Trinity would stay on the attack, scoring five unanswered points. Colorado would match that with five points of their own. Trinity was ready for it, though, picking up four more points to take the lead. Colorado would go on a massive six-point run to bring the score to within two. Trinity would dig deep and make a huge push and get the final four points to take the set 25-23 and win their first set of the match.
Trinity wasn't done yet, they started the third set by going up 3-0, and it was time for the Tiger block to come into play. The Tigers would amass six total blocks in this set alone. With Trinity holding on to the lead, the two powerhouses would trade points until the score was 24-14. Colorado would not go down easy, scoring the next five points to bring the score to 24-19. However, a well-placed timeout would throw off the Colorado serve just enough for her to serve the ball out and give the Tigers the set 25-19 and tie the match.
With all the momentum on their side, Trinity was ready to take the match. Trinity came out steaming with a 7-3 lead. Trinity wouldn't stop there, scoring the next six points, capped off by a Thornton kill. Colorado would score the next point but Trinity was determined to take this match. The ball would come off the hand of
Reagan Whatley (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) to the Colorado floor to bring the game to match point. As the last ball floated off and the line judge held his flag up, the Colorado miscue saw that Trinity had taken the set 15-4, completing the reverse sweep.
Logan would lead the way for the Tigers with 15 kills, and Thornton collecting 10. Kern would lead the Tigers defensively with 19 digs and Pope would have three blocks.
Up Next: Back to Home Court
The Tigers will head back to Calgaard Gym to play a set of non-conference games against Concordia University (TX) and Hardin-Simmons University on Wednesday, October 4th.
