SAN ANTONIO - No. 11 Tiger Volleyball takes two victories on the final day of the Trinity National Invitational.
 
The Tigers (5-4) defeated Covenant College 3-0 and Eastern University 3-2. Mackenzie Logan (Calgary, Canada / Bishop Carroll) led Trinity offensively with 36 kills across two matches. Maddie Fate (New York, New York / Croton Harmon) was behind her with 16 kills. Annabelle Lanik (Sugar Land, Texas / St. John's) had 27 digs. As a team, Trinity had 13 blocks and 16 aces. With their two wins today, the Tigers finished second in the tournament. Fate and Logan were named to the All-Tournament team.
 
Game One - Trinity 3, Covenant 0
 
Set one started as a seesaw battle until the score was tied at 6-all. After a service error by the Scots, it was time for Trinity to take advantage. Logan and Fate scored two points, followed by a huge block by Lauren McCarthy (Corrales, New Mexico / Horizon) and Connelley McWilliams (Austin, Texas / St. Michael's), which swung all the momentum to the home side. Logan scored three of the next four points to give Trinity a six-point lead. From that point on, it was all Tigers. Covenant sent a ball out of bounds, giving TU a first-set win, 25-13.
 
The Scots had three aces in a row to start set two, but that did not stop the Trinity train. A service error, a block by McCarthy and Logan, a kill by Logan, and another block by McCarthy and Pope brought the lead back to Trinity. More back-and-forth action continued throughout the entire set until the Tigers were down 21-20 late. Trinity got back on track, thanks to none other than Mackenzie Logan. Trinity scored five straight points, capped off by a Kendall DeRivel (Westlake Village, California / Viewpoint) ace, to win set two 25-21.
 
With a match win in their sights, TU went up 9-3 in the early part of set three. Covenant sprinkled in points here and there, even cutting the lead down to three, but the Tigers remained in control. Fate put a ball through the floor, bringing the score to 23-19. McWilliams sent two rockets to the floor, securing the set and the match for the Tigers, 25-19.
 
Game Two - Trinity 3, Eastern 2
 
The highly anticipated match up started with a service error in favor of Trinity. After Eastern took the lead back to make it 6-5, it was time for the Tigers to go on a run. Marissa Drange (Boerne, Texas / Champion), Jozie Dhayer (Houston, Texas / Summer Creek), Mackenzie Logan, and Maddie Fate all had kills as Trinity took a 12-8 lead. The Eagles had some impressive hits throughout the set, but the Tiger lead was too great. The workhorse Mackenzie Logan hammered consecutive balls to lead Trinity to a 25-16 set one victory.
 
Eastern came out in the next two sets playing extremely well, winning set two 25-18 and set three 25-15. Momentum and confidence were on the side of the Eagles, or so we thought…
 
It looked grim to start set four, but a kill from Fate got Trinity's rhythm going. Three straight points by TU tied everything at 5. As the Tigers and Eagles traded points, Eastern had a three-point run that gave them a 16-12 lead. After a ball-handling error by Eastern, Big Mac Logan was sent back to the service line. For six consecutive points, Logan and the Tigers rallied their way back and took a 19-16 advantage. Trinity rode the momentum for the rest of the set and won 25-23. The two teams were on their way to the coveted fifth set.
 
Set five did not start well for the Tigers, as Eastern quickly jumped to a 5-1 lead. However, Trinity clawed their way back, and Reagan Whatley (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) served a float that dropped straight to the floor for a set-tying ace. DeRivel added another ace, and Mackenzie Logan contributed two kills, bringing Trinity to within one point of victory. When Eastern received the serve and set the ball to their outside hitter, Drange and Fate immediately roofed her. Julie Jenkins pumped her fist as the maroon and white won set five, 15-12, and completed the comeback.
 
Up Next
 
The Tigers will start SCAC play against Texas Lutheran on September 20th.