SAN ANTONIO — No. 19 Trinity Volleyball (20-8, 10-6 SAA) will host the SAA Championship at Julie Jenkins Court from Thursday, Nov. 12, through Saturday, Nov. 14. The Tigers have the No. 3 seed and will open against the No. 6 seed Millsaps in Thursday's quarterfinals. With a win, they will face the No. 2 seed Berry in Friday's semifinals at 5:00 p.m. CT. In the event of another win, they will meet one of the No. 1 seed Centre, the No. 4 seed Southwestern or the No. 5 seed Rhodes in the championship match on Saturday at noon CT. 
 
Trinity swept both of its matches at Julie Jenkins Court last week, beating McMurry on Thursday and Hardin-Simmons on Friday to extend its winning streak to six matches. Sophomore outside hitter Lily Long (Glenview, Ill. / New Trier) had 27 kills and 18 digs, and senior middle blocker Lauren McCarthy (Corrales, N.M. / Horizon) added 16 kills. Junior libero Annabelle Lanik (Sugar Land, Texas / St. John's) had 20 digs. Senior setter Kendall DeRivel (Westlake Village, Calif. / Viewpoint) finished with 29 assists, and freshman setter Emma Reeves (Plano, Texas / East) had 22.
 
The Tigers have already played every team in the field this season, with mixed results. The Tigers are 2-0 against Southwestern, 1-1 against Centre and Rhodes, and 0-2 against Millsaps and Berry.

SAA Quarterfinal Preview

The Tigers open the tournament on Thursday, Nov. 12, at Julie Jenkins Court, where they are 12-3 this season, against the No. 6 seed Millsaps. They are chasing their first SAA tournament title after finishing as runner-up last year.

On the No. 6 seed Millsaps Majors
Millsaps has beaten Trinity twice this season. The Tigers lead the all-time series 35-2, but both of those losses came against the Majors in 2026: a 3-2 Millsaps win in Jackson, Miss., on Oct. 2 and a 3-1 win in San Antonio on Oct. 23. The October win in Jackson was Millsaps' first over a ranked opponent since April 10, 2021.
 
The Majors (17-11, 7-9 SAA) finished one game ahead of Sewanee for the final spot in the bracket, and they arrive having won three straight, beating Oglethorpe 3-1 on Nov. 1 and then Rhodes 3-0 and Belhaven 3-1 at home on Saturday. Trinity won both 2025 meetings.
Freshman outside hitter Khloe Duncan leads the Majors with 340 kills, and junior middle blocker Zoë LaCaze leads with 83.0 blocks. Sophomore setter Anna Ware has 389 assists, and senior libero Sandy Bourgeois has 503 digs.

Potential SAA Semifinal Opponent
If the Tigers win Thursday's quarterfinal, they will play the No. 2 seed Berry on Friday, Nov. 13, at 5:00 p.m. CT.

On the No. 2 seed Berry Vikings
Berry has owned this tournament. The Vikings have won each of the last five SAA championships, and the most recent one came against Trinity: last November in Atlanta, the top-seeded Tigers beat Centre 3-1 in the semifinals, then lost the championship match 3-0 to Berry, which was Berry's first win in the series. The Vikings have since beaten Trinity twice more this season, 3-1 in San Antonio on Sept. 25 and 3-2 in Danville, Ky., on Oct. 17, and have won the last three meetings. Trinity still leads the series 7-3.
 
Berry (23-5, 14-2 SAA) beat Millsaps 3-0 on Oct. 31 and Rhodes 3-2 on Nov. 1, and it had a mixed week in Atlanta last weekend, beating Washington and Lee 3-2, losing 3-2 at No. 23 Emory and then sweeping Huntingdon on Senior Day.
 
Senior right side Madie Whitehead leads Berry with 386 kills, and senior outside hitter Keira Kruk, last year's tournament MVP, has 324. Sophomore setter Ava Brovet has 957 assists, senior libero Andrea Hurt has 509 digs and sophomore middle blocker Cali Armstead leads with 110.0 blocks.

Potential SAA Championship Opponents
If all goes well and the Tigers win their semifinal, they will face one of Centre, Southwestern or Rhodes in the championship match on Saturday, Nov. 14, at noon CT. The No. 4 seed Southwestern and No. 5 seed Rhodes meet in Thursday's first quarterfinal at 2:00 p.m. CT, and the winner plays the No. 1 seed Centre in Friday's other semifinal at 2:00 p.m. CT.

On the No. 1 seed Centre Colonels
Centre has had a week of highs and lows. The Colonels clinched the outright SAA regular-season title on Oct. 31 with sweeps of Rhodes and Millsaps, and they are No. 1 in the AVCA poll for the first time in program history. Then they lost both matches on Saturday in Atlanta, 3-2 at Emory and 3-1 to Washington and Lee. 
 
Centre (25-3, 15-1 SAA) split its 2026 meetings with Trinity: the Tigers won 3-2 in San Antonio on Sept. 26 over the then-No. 14 Colonels, and Centre won 3-1 in Danville on Oct. 16. Trinity leads the all-time series 41-3 and beat Centre 3-1 in last year's SAA semifinals.
 
Sophomore hitter Kendra Christopher leads Centre with 325 kills, and senior hitter Syd Bietz, a member of last year's all-tournament team, has 310. Freshman setter Elle B Smith has 1,051 assists, freshman defensive specialist Campbell Miles has 423 digs and sophomore middle blocker Elise Grundy leads with 85.0 blocks.
 
On the No. 4 seed Southwestern Pirates
Southwestern and Trinity both finished 10-6 in the SAA, with the Tigers earning the higher seed. The Pirates (20-9) lost both meetings with Trinity this season, falling 3-2 in Georgetown on Oct. 10 and 3-1 in San Antonio on Oct. 23, but they arrive on a four-match winning streak, beating Millsaps 3-0, Sewanee 3-0, Maryville 3-1 and Mary Hardin-Baylor 3-1 on Senior Day. Southwestern also beat Rhodes 3-1 on Oct. 23, the team it meets in Thursday's quarterfinal. The teams split their 2025 meetings, with Southwestern winning 3-1 on Oct. 24 and Trinity winning 3-0 on Nov. 7, and Trinity leads the all-time series 65-21.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Tatum Ahrens leads the Pirates with 303 kills, freshman hitter Lucy Riggar has 229, and junior right side Sophia Burke has 215 kills and leads with 66.0 blocks. Freshman setter Caroline Srubar has 728 assists, and junior libero Izzy Rodriguez has 493 digs.

On the No. 5 seed Rhodes Lynx
Rhodes beat Trinity 3-2 in Jackson on Oct. 2, the Tigers' first loss to the Lynx since Sept. 17, 2010. Trinity answered with a 3-0 sweep in San Antonio on Oct. 24, and leads the all-time series 36-3, having swept both 2025 meetings. The Lynx (16-11, 8-8 SAA) lost 3-1 to Southwestern on Oct. 23 and went down in five sets to Berry on Nov. 1, then lost 3-0 at Millsaps on Saturday before beating Belhaven in five sets later that day.
 
Senior outside hitter Yzzi Dsamou leads the Lynx with 275 kills, and sophomore outside hitter Caroline Short has 193. Senior setter Emma Clark has 469 assists, senior libero Olivia Wiseman has 336 digs and freshman middle blocker Anna Satterfield leads with 75.0 blocks.

Looking Ahead
The NCAA regionals are scheduled for Nov. 19-21. The Tigers would earn automatic qualification if they triumph in the championship this weekend.