MARYVILLE, Tenn. – The 19th-ranked Trinity University volleyball team opened its final Southern Athletic Association weekend of the year with a 3-0 sweep at Maryville College (TN) on Friday evening.
The Tigers (17-8, 9-6 SAA) won 25-21, 25-22, and 25-11 in tonight's match, holding the Scots (8-14, 2-10 SAA) to a hitting percentage of just .069 across the three sets. Meanwhile, Trinity improved its hitting percentage in each set, highlighted by a .469 in the clinching game.
Lily Long (Glenview, Ill. / New Trier) finished with a team-leading 10 kills against Maryville, with teammates
Connelley McWilliams (Austin, Texas / St. Michael's) and
Taylor Starr (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) close behind with eight kills each. McWilliams also hit .438 and Starr led the way with a .538 hitting percentage, with both Tigers making just one error. McWilliams and Starr were also joined by
Lauren McCarthy (Corrales, N.M. / Horizon) in leading the team with three blocks each.
Annie Witt (Liberty Hill, Texas / Liberty Hill) dropped in six kills and a .600 hitting percentage in just two sets.
Kendall DeRivel (Westlake Village, Calif. / Viewpoint) led the team with 19 assists, with
Emma Reeves (Plano, Texas / East) chipping in with 11 of her own.
Amelia Payton (Acworth, Ga. / Harrison) accounted for four of the team's seven service aces, and
Annabelle Lanik (Sugar Land, Texas / St. John's) led the team with 13 digs.
The Rundown
Trinity responded to its first deficit of the night by scoring nine of the next 11 points to take an 11-5 lead, with McWilliams contributing two kills and three blocks during that stretch. Maryville used a 5-1 run to pull within two (17-15), but the Tigers scored four straight points to make it a 21-15 lead. Payton had a pair of aces and both Long and McCarthy had kills, though the Scots still had one more rally in them. Maryville scored four unanswered points of its own to make it 23-21, but Trinity ended the threat with two straight scores to take a 1-0 match lead.
The Tigers scored the first three points of the second set and led most of the way. Starr had three early kills to push Trinity to an 11-3 lead early in the game. Maryville got going in the middle of the set, though, scoring eight of 10 points during one stretch to take a brief 19-18 lead. McCarthy helped the Tigers keep pace with three kills down the stretch and the game was tied 22-22. McWilliams broke the tie to put Trinity in front, then Starr followed with a kill of her own to set up set point. For the second straight set, an attack error by Maryville ended the game and the Tigers took a 2-0 lead.
The third set remained close for several points until Long led the Tigers on a 10-2 run that gave them a 17-8 lead. Long scored three straight kills for Trinity and then served for a stretch of five straight points that included an ace, as well as two kills for Witt. The Scots tried to bounce back by scoring three of the next four points after that, but it would be the final points of the night for the home team. Trinity finished the set and completed the sweep with seven straight scores. Witt had three kills and a block with McCarthy over the final seven points to close out the night.
Up Next
Trinity will close out the weekend against the University of the South at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, which will also finish off the regular season conference schedule. The Tigers will wrap up the regular season at home next weekend against McMurry University (TX) and Hardin-Simmons University (TX).
