Looking to secure their 21st SCAC Championship, the no. 13 Trinity Tiger Volleyball Team collected a sweep against Schreiner on Friday night.
 
How Did They Get There?
 
The 5-seed Mountaineers pulled off the upset victory over the 4-seed St. Thomas in the quarterfinals in a five-set thriller. With that win, the Mountaineers advanced to play against the 1-seed, your Trinity Tigers. 
 
The Debrief
 
As the speakers played the famous hit of "Apache", it was time for the 2023 SCAC Volleyball Semifinal match to get underway. It would be Maddie Fate (Croton on Hudson, New York / Croton Hampton) to get the Tigers their first point. The Tigers and Mountaineers were locked early in the first set, but sending in spark plug Jozie Dhayer (Houston, Texas / Summer Creek) was just what the Tigers needed to go on a three-point run to bring the score to 9-6 in favor of the Tigers. The Mountaineers would have some crafty shots to tie up the match at 10-10, but Head Coach Julie Jenkins subbed in the 2023 SCAC Setter of the Year Marisa Amarino (Calabasas, California / Notre Dame Prep) to step in and run the offense. The Tigers scored four unanswered points to take back the lead, 14-10. The play that would bring more momentum to the Tigers would be Nadia Kern (El Paso, Texas / Montwood) sending a tumbling top spin hit to land right on the line for the Tiger point. The Tiger fans would not be disappointed as Amarino would send a quick set to Fate that she would crush to the deep corner to give the Tigers the set, 25-22. 
 
The Tigers would get started with a point on a Mountaineer miscue. The Mountaineers would take a one-point lead early in the set until a two-and-a-half-minute rally ended with a Dhayer kill to bring the score back to even. As the set went on, you could feel the crowd about to erupt for the Tigers. One Tiger would let the Tiger fans explode as she was a thorn(ton) in the side of the Mountaineers. A kill and assisted block by fifth-year Brette Thornton (Rockwall, Texas / Rockwall) would extend the Tiger lead and bring the score to 16-12. With Thornton on the service line, the Tigers would go on a quick four-point run to pad the lead. To end the set, it would be the 2023 SCAC Player of the Year Mackenzie Logan (Calgary, Canada / Bishop Carroll) to fly through the sky and send a rocket shot down the line to give the Tigers the set 25-16 and a commanding 2-0 edge in the match.
 
In the third set, the Tigers would step on the gas pedal. With the help of Fate and Logan, the Tigers would jump out their largest lead of the contest, with the scoring being 11-2. In the middle of the set, it was clear why the Tigers were the top-seeded team in the tournament. The Tigers were putting the ball away left and right. The dagger of the game would be an open net slam by first-year Courtney Pope (New Braunfels, Texas / Canyon) that would see the Tiger lead be 16-9. As the scoreboard lit up with a score of 24-17, it would be Pope who would finish off the Mountaineers with a cross-court shot and give the Tigers the sweep. 
 
Fate would have an outstanding game, collecting 9 kills and 5 total blocks on an absurd .533 hitting percentage. Logan would lead the Tigers with 11 kills and Kern would collect 4 aces in the match.
 
Up Next - We Goin' To The Ship
 
With the victory, the Tigers will advance to the SCAC Championship to play against the winner of Colorado versus Texas Lutheran at 11:00 AM on Saturday. This marks the fourth time in the last five years that the Tigers will compete for the SCAC title. Trinity won the SCAC Championship Match in 2019 and 2021, defeating Colorado College and Southwestern University, respectively.