BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The 11th-ranked Trinity University volleyball team took a thrilling 3-2 win over #7 Colby College (ME) in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Wednesday afternoon at the Shirk Center on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University.

The Tigers improved to 26-5 this season with the 25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 16-25, 18-16 victory over the Mules, who fell to 26-4 and were eliminated with the loss. Trinity advances to the NCAA Semifinals for the fifth time in school history and the first time since the 2022 season.

Trinity looked like it had control of the fifth set, taking a 10-7 lead before watching Colby tie things up to add drama to an already-tense environment. Colby carried that momentum into a 14-12 lead and was on the verge of the victory. The Tigers had other plans, though, surviving back-to-back match points against them to tie things up. Trinity scored again to set up its first match point, but Colby tied things up 15-15 and the match continued. The Mules survived another match point to tie things up 16-16, but Trinity's third match point was the charm as the Tigers won on a block to advance.

Defense was the name of the game today as the two teams combined for 20 blocks and crept up to nearly 200 combined digs. Trinity reached triple digits in digs for the first time this season, finishing with 103 for the match. Jenna Rodriguez (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) led the way with a team season-high 26 digs in today's match, while four other players also reached double figures. Taylor Starr (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) led the way with five blocks, while Lauren McCarthy (Corrales, N.M. / Horizon) and Marissa Drange (Boerne, Texas / Champion) added three blocks each. McCarthy also added 13 kills and a .346 hitting percentage and was a force out of the middle on offense and defense.

Reagan Whatley (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) starred on offense and defense, posting her second 20-20 match of the year. She tied the team season-high with 21 kills and a .306 hitting percentage, while also recording 20 digs to go with a pair of blocks on defense. Courtney Pope (New Braunfels, Texas / Canyon) had a red-hot start to the match as half of her 14 kills came in the opening set.

Setters Jozie Dhayer (Houston, Texas / Summer Creek) and Kendall DeRivel (Westlake Village, Calif. / Viewpoint) both finished with double-doubles in the match as well. DeRivel had 28 assists and 12 digs, while Dhayer matched the 12 digs and added 25 more assists to the duo's total.

First-year Lily Long (Glenview, Ill. / New Trier), who is from the Chicago area and played in her home state for the first time this season, provided a huge spark off the bench with a double-double of her own. Long finished with 11 kills and 10 digs, while also adding a team-leading three aces.

The Rundown
Both teams were evenly matched from the start and neither was able to string together more than three straight points until the waning moments of the first set. Trinity did score four of out five points early to take an 8-6 lead, fueled by back-to-back kills by Pope. After Colby rallied to make it 9-8, the Tigers did it again with two kills from Pope and a block from McCarthy and Connelley McWilliams (Austin, Texas / St. Michael's) to make it a 13-9 advantage. Another 4-1 run shortly after took the lead to 18-13 and the Tigers were poised to run away with the first set. Colby interrupted that with three unanswered, but Trinity used another of its "four-out-of-five" runs to take a 22-17 lead. That's when Colby put together the first four-point run of the set to draw within one at 22-21. McCarthy and Whatley scored back-to-back kills as Trinity's answer and the Tigers took the opening set 25-21.

Trinity got the opening point of the second set, but Colby five of the next six to take an early 5-2 lead. After the Tigers tied things up 7-7, the Mules answered with three in a row to reclaim the lead and never trailed again. Trinity did draw within one point, but Colby scored five in a row to take control at 19-13. Long entered the game and promptly stopped that run, sparking a 5-1 Tiger spurt to make it a 20-18 deficit. Long had three kills in the sequence and Pope added another. The Mules didn't take any more chances, though, and rattled off five unanswered to with the set 25-18 and tie the match at 1-1.

The third set would be another battle to the final point and Trinity had the early edge after five straight points gave them a 6-2 lead. Whatley and McCarthy had two kills each in the sequence, but Colby had a decisive answer with seven unanswered points to pull in front. Trinity was down 12-8 when Long came in and changed the momentum once again. She fueled a 7-1 Trinity run with two aces and two kills, putting the Tigers in front 15-13. Colby kept coming but Whatley had three kills out of five Trinity points to take a 20-17 lead. The Mules wrestled control away with five straight points to take a 22-20 lead, but the Tigers weren't done yet. McCarthy broke up the run with a kill, then after Colby scored to lead 23-21, Long had two kills in a 4-0 run by Trinity that clinched the set and a 2-1 lead.

Trinity had a chance to take the win in the fourth set and McCarthy had a pair of kills to help the Tigers take an early 6-4 lead. Colby pulled back in front shortly after though and held the lead the rest of the way. A kill from Whatley pulled the Tigers within two at 12-14, but the Mules scored five of the next six to take a 19-13 lead. Trinity never recovered from that and Colby used another 5-1 run at the end to finish off the 25-16 victory that sent the match into the fifth set.

Pope started the Tigers off with a kill in the fifth to take the opening point, then a kill from Whatley and an ace from Long made it a 4-1 advantage. Colby tied it with three straight scores in what would be a recurring theme in the fifth set. Pope broke a 5-5 deadlock with a kill to start a 5-2 run that also included two kills by Whatley and a kill from Long that made it a 10-7 lead. Colby then used a 7-2 run to take control at 14-12, moving within a point of stealing the win away from the Tigers. McCarthy's kill ruined the first match point, then Colby made a hitting error to tie things up. That's when Whatley's kill put Trinity in front 15-14, and after the Mules tied it, Whatley scored again to make it 16-15 Tigers. Colby tied things up for the ninth time in the set at 16-16, but another hitting error put Trinity on its third match point. Starr and Drange got the block and Trinity pulled off the dramatic victory.

Up Next
Trinity will face the winner of third-ranked University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and 19th-ranked Calvin College (MI) in the NCAA Semifinals at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 4.