GEORGETOWN, Texas – The ninth-ranked Trinity University volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss at Southwestern University (TX) on Friday night, which is the team's first conference defeat of the season.
The Tigers (17-4, 10-1) split the first two sets before the Pirates (17-5, 9-2) won the third and fourth to clinch the victory and snap Trinity's 11-match winning streak. Trinity lost 23-25, 25-22, 19-25, and 23-25 in a match that saw the Tigers hit below .200 in all four sets.
Reagan Whatley (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) and
Jozie Dhayer (Houston, Texas / Summer Creek) both finished with double-doubles to lead the way for Trinity. Whatley tied for the team lead with 15 kills and also added 17 digs. Dhayer had 20 assists and 14 digs, while fellow setter
Kendall DeRivel (Westlake Village, Calif. / Viewpoint) led the Tigers with 25 assists along with seven digs.
Jenna Rodriguez (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) led the team with 24 digs, with
Annabelle Lanik (Sugar Land, Texas / St. John's) adding 16 more to Trinity's team total of 88 digs in the match.
Lauren McCarthy (Corrales, N.M. / Horizon) had a team-high five blocks and three others –
Marissa Drange (Boerne, Texas / Champion),
Courtney Pope (New Braunfels, Texas / Canyon), and
Taylor Starr (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) – finished with three blocks each.
Connelley McWilliams (Austin, Texas / St. Michael's) was just shy of double figures with nine kills along with her two blocks. Poor tied Whatley for the team lead with 15 kills.
The Rundown
Trinity and Southwestern exchanged points early in the first set, then had matching 4-0 runs to keep the scoring even. After the Tigers snagged two straight points on kills by Pope and DeRivel to take a 19-17 lead, the Pirates answered with four unanswered to take the lead for good. Trinity held off two set points to close the gap to 24-23 on back-to-back kills by Whatley, but Southwestern was able to finish the set win to lead 1-0.
After another back-and-forth start to the next set, Southwestern was able to build a small lead. Trinity rallied back to a 17-17 tie, but the Pirates scored three of the next four to pull back ahead. The Tigers roared back once again by scoring four of the next five points – including three kills from Whatley – and took a 23-21 lead. Southwestern got the next point, but then Pope had a kill and a block (with McCarthy) to lift Trinity to the win and the 1-1 tie in the match.
The third set started much like the first two with neither team able to string together enough points to swing the momentum their way. That is until the Pirates used an 11-2 run – that included a streak of seven unanswered points – to lead 15-7. The Tigers answered a few points later with five straight points on three Whatley kills, an ace by Rodriguez, and a kill by McCarthy that closed it to a 17-14 deficit. Southwestern promptly got all five points gained back with five straight of their own and a commanding 22-14 advantage that proved to be enough to eventually put the Pirates up 2-1.
Both teams had early spurts of three and four consecutive points, which just left the fourth set in an early deadlock similar to the first two. Every time Trinity had a run to try and pull away, Southwestern had an answer to keep pace or even take a slim lead. The Tigers led 22-21 and 23-22 late in an attempt to force a fifth set, but the Pirates scored the final three points to take the narrow win and clinch the match.
Up Next
Trinity will be back on the road next weekend, facing off against Rhodes College (TN) on Friday, October 31, at 5:30 p.m. in Memphis, Tenn. The Tigers will then travel to Jackson, Miss. to face Millsaps College (MS) at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 1.
