SAN ANTONIO – The 16th-ranked Trinity University volleyball team began its Southern Athletic Association era with a pair of 3-0 wins against #15 Berry College (GA) and Centre College (KY) on Saturday in Calgaard Gymnasium.

The Tigers (8-3, 2-0 SAA) began the day by sweeping Berry (8-2, 0-1 SAA) with scores of 25-17, 25-23, and 25-18. Trinity also finished off the day with a commanding 25-19, 25-7, 25-17 win over Centre (7-4, 0-2 SAA). Trinity has now won 15 consecutive regular season conference matches, dating back to last year in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Trinity setters Jozie Dhayer (Houston, Texas / Summer Creek) and Kendall DeRivel (Westlake Village, Calif. / Viewpoint) both notched double-doubles in the win over Berry. Dhayer had 11 assists and 11 digs, while DeRivel finished with a team-best 22 assists to go with 10 digs. Dhayer was the only Tiger to reach double figures with 12 assists in the second match and DeRivel finished with eight assists in just two sets played.

Jenna Rodriguez (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) led the team in both matches on the day, collecting 20 in the opener before snagging eight more in the finale. Rodriguez also lead the team with five service aces on the day – including three against Berry. Reagan Whatley (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) paced Trinity's offense in both matches, finishing with 21 total kills (12 against Berry, nine against Centre). She was also instrumental defensively with 12 digs and six blocks in the two wins, as well as serving up three aces against Berry and one more against Centre.

Courtney Pope (New Braunfels, Texas / Canyon) matched Whatley's team-high 12 kills against Berry and also finished with a .526 hitting percentage in the match. Marissa Drange (Boerne, Texas / Champion) contributed seven kills in each match, while Taylor Starr (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) tallied 11 total blocks on the day – including seven against Centre. Anna Verhoff (Milton, Ga. / Milton) chipped in with seven assists in the win over Centre, while Brynn Bishop (Indianola, Iowa / Indianola) notched six digs, and Connelley McWilliams (Austin, Texas / St. Michael's) had six kills to go with a .455 hitting percentage in the match. Lauren McCarthy (Corrales, N.M. / Horizon) added four blocks against Centre and six blocks total on the day.

The Rundown
Trinity and Berry pretty much just traded points in the early going of the first set and neither team led by more than two points until the Tigers put together a stellar finish in front of the home crowd. Trailing 16-14, Trinity scored five straight points to take its first significant lead at 19-14. The rally started with a kill by Drange, who then stepped up for five straight serves. After a block from McCarthy and Pope, Drange fired in back-to-back aces, and then Whatley capped the run with a kill of her own. Berry finally broke up the streak but that turned out to be its final point of the set. Pope and Starr had two kills each and a Berry error in the middle of another run of five straight points ended the set. The Tigers scored 11 of the final 12 points of the set to set the tone for the opening match of the day.

Berry came out strong to start the second set, scoring the first two points and taking a 7-3 lead early. That lead eased up as high as six points (14-8) when the Tigers pounced. Trinity scored seven unanswered points, which included three straight kills by Pope at one point. Bishop served throughout the run and even picked up an ace of her own that tied things up 14-14. McCarthy ended the run with a kill of her own that gave Trinity its first lead of the set. Berry's only point of the overall 13-1 blitz by the Tigers came next, but it could not stop the momentum. Three kills from Whatley and three aces from Rodriguez followed that single point and put Trinity in front 21-15. Berry clawed back to within one late, but a kill from Drange set up match point for Trinity (24-22) and an error by Berry finished off the 25-23 win and a 2-0 match lead.

The early part of the third set also saw Berry in control, but this time the Tigers did not wait to make their move. Trinity turned an 8-5 deficit into an 11-8 lead as Whatley scorched three aces to go with kills from Starr and Drange. The Vikings tried to push back right after, but a service error was followed by back-to-back kills by Pope, and Trinity led 16-11. Shortly after, Whatley had three kills in a four-point stretch to give Trinity a 21-15 lead that proved to be too much to overcome. Berry had back-to-back service aces to set up match point and Drange hammered home the final kill of the night to finish the match.

In the match against Centre, Trinity scored the first three points and never trailed in the opening set. DeRivel started things off with an ace, then followed with a rare kill from the starting setter. She then assisted Whatley on a kill to make it an early 3-0 game for the Tigers. Unlike the Berry match, Trinity didn't use long scoring runs to take the lead. Instead, the Tigers never scored more than three straight points and just methodically took down the Colonels. The lead pushed to seven (16-9) after Whatley followed a kill with an ace, then McCarthy followed a kill of her own with a block that included Pope. Whately and McWilliams had back-to-back kills late in the set to make it a 21-12 advantage. Centre got to within five points at the end, but Pope finished with a kill and a 25-19 win.

After trading points to open the second set, Starr pushed the Tigers in front with a standout sequence. She opened with a kill to make it a 2-1 Trinity lead, then recorded back-to-back blocks with McWilliams and then Whatley. Then Whatley finished the 4-0 run with a kill of her own. After Centre scored to break it up, the Tigers added six more points in a row to take an 11-2 lead. Drange scored kills in two of the final three points in that stretch and the rout was on. Trinity finished the set by scoring 10 of the final 11 points and taking a lopsided 25-7 win. Starr had three blocks and a kill during that stretch to give Trinity a 2-0 lead.

Centre had its best start of the night in the third set, scoring four of the first five points and taking an 8-3 lead. Drange got Trinity started in the right direction with consecutive kills, followed by an ace from Starr to cut the lead to 8-6. The Colonels fought back to reclaim the five-point lead (11-6), but Drange was there again to slow down the visiting team. She combined with McCarthy for a block, threw down a kill, and then picked up an assist on three straight points to cut it to an 11-10 deficit. Centre still led 14-12 when the Tigers put together one of the long runs that defined the Berry match. Whatley had two blocks and a kill during six unanswered points that put the Tigers on top 19-14. McWilliams had three kills in the final four Trinity points and Drange assisted on the last two points of the night as Trinity won 25-17.

Up Next
Trinity will conclude its first weekend of SAA play by hosting Rhodes College (TN) at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. Rhodes split its matches as part of today's action at Trinity, falling 3-0 to Berry after defeating Centre 3-1 earlier in the day.