ROME, Ga. – The 10th-ranked Trinity University volleyball team earned a 3-1 Southern Athletic Association road victory over #14 Berry College (GA) on Saturday afternoon to remain unbeaten atop the conference standings so far this season.
After dropping the first set 25-22, the Tigers (16-3, 9-0) defeated the Vikings (17-4, 8-2) 27-25, 25-14, and 25-20 in the next three to take the win, which is the second time this season that Trinity has defeated Berry.
Kendall DeRivel (Westlake Village, Calif. / Viewpoint) chalked up a double-double with 20 assists and 11 digs, while
Marissa Drange (Boerne, Texas / Champion) and
Connelley McWilliams (Austin, Texas / St. Michael's) both finished with double-digit kills and hitting percentages over .350. Drange led the team with a 14-kill performance to go with a .357 percentage and McWilliams hit .389 and poured in 10 kills.
Jozie Dhayer (Houston, Texas / Summer Creek) added a team-best 21 assists to go with four digs.
Reagan Whatley (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) and
Jenna Rodriguez (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) tied for the team lead with 15 digs each, while Whatley also added eight kills to her stat line.
Brynn Bishop (Indianola, Iowa / Indianola) contributed nine digs and led the team with two service aces. McWilliams and
Lauren McCarthy (Corrales, N.M. / Horizon) tied for the team lead with five blocks each, with McCarthy adding seven kills and a .357 hitting percentage.
Taylor Starr (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) added four blocks as well for the Tigers.
The Rundown
The two nationally-ranked teams went point-for-point for most of the first set as neither team led by more than two points until Berry rattled off three straight scores for a 15-12 advantage. Trinity cut the lead to one right after but Berry never trailed again in the set and the lead grew as high as five late in the first. The Tigers scored three unanswered points to cut it to a 23-22 lead, but Berry finished with a block and an ace to take the narrow win.
Berry came out strong to start the second set, taking an early 10-5 lead to put the Tigers on their heels. Every time Trinity started to put a run together, Berry answered and stayed in front. The Tigers finally caught up as the set neared its end and tied the score at 22-22. Berry had the first set point serving with a 24-23 lead, but Drange tied it up again on an assist from Dhayer. The next set point was for the Tigers at 25-24 and the serve, but Berry managed the stay alive with a kill of its own that tied the match 25-25. The Tigers were on the verge of going down 2-0 in the match, but Whatley and Drange scored back-to-back kills to finish off the 27-25 victory that tied things up.
Trinity came out hot in the third set and took a 7-3 lead after Bishop had consecutive service aces. After Berry answered with three straight points, the Tigers connected four unanswered points on two errors, a Whatley kill, and an ace from McCarthy. Leading 11-7, Trinity powered through the biggest run of the match, scoring seven straight times to take a commanding 18-7 lead. Berry had four hitting errors and a service error during the run, which turned the match in Trinity's favor for good. Drange and Whatley had two kills each down the stretch and the Tigers cruised to a 25-14 win.
The fourth set featured another strong start by the Tigers, powered by a 6-0 run that made it an 8-2 margin early. Four different Trinity players had kills during that stretch, with Berry adding two more hitting errors. Berry slowed the momentum after that and kept pace with the Tigers until another quick spurt pushed Trinity's lead to 19-10. McWilliams and Drange both had kills during the 4-0 stretch and the McWilliams/McCarthy duo added a block to help fuel the run. Berry never got closer than a five-point deficit after that and Whatley and McWilliams had kills in two of the final three points as well and the Tigers finished with a 25-20 run.
Up Next
Trinity finishes its weekend trip to Georgia with another SAA match on Sunday, facing off against Oglethorpe University (GA) at 10:30 a.m. (ET).
