MEDFORD, Mass. – The #2 Trinity University volleyball team split a pair of matches to open its part at the Tufts Invitational on Friday afternoon, sweeping Salisbury University (MD) before falling 3-0 to #21 Tufts University (MA).
The Tigers (5-1) opened the day with a 27-25, 25-17, 25-19 win to hand Salisbury (4-1) its first loss of the season. Trinity was beaten 32-30, 25-21, 25-18 by Tufts (3-2) in its final match of the day. The Tigers will wrap up their weekend tomorrow.
Lily Long (Glenview, Ill. / New Trier) led Trinity with a double-double of 12 kills and 10 digs in the win over Salisbury. She also hit .304 in the match and tied for the team lead with a pair of service aces.
Anna Verhoff (Milton, Ga. / Milton) and
Amelia Payton (Acworth, Ga. / Harrison) also had two aces each and while Verhoff also led the team with 16 assists, Payton added three kills, three blocks, and seven digs to her stat line for the match.
Kendall DeRivel (Westlake Village, Calif. / Viewpoint) handed out 15 assists to go with seven digs, while
Annabelle Lanik (Sugar Land, Texas / St. John's) tied Long for the team lead with 10 digs.
Connelley McWilliams (Austin, Texas / St. Michael's) had a strong offensive showing with 10 kills and a .500 hitting percentage in the match, while
Lauren McCarthy (Corrales, NM / Horizon) produced a team-high six blocks to go with her six kills.
Courtney Pope (New Braunfels, Texas / Canyon) and
Taylor Starr (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) had five kills each and combined for five blocks, with Starr also hitting .556 in the match.
Against Tufts, DeRivel and Verhoff had 15 assists each to lead the team and also combined for 11 digs between the two of them. Long led the way with 13 kills and a .357 hitting percentage to go with four blocks and six digs. Starr had five more kills and hit over .300 for the second time today, while Lanik's seven digs also led the Tigers in the Friday finale. Pope finished with nine kills and hit over .300, while McCarthy scored six kills and hit over .400.
The Rundown: Salisbury
The two teams exchanged early leads and Salisbury scored three in a row to take a 7-6 advantage, but Trinity answered with five straight points of its own to reclaim control of the match in the early going. Salisbury cut the lead to just one and then answered a short run by the Tigers with five straight points of its own to take a 17-16 lead. After Trinity scored five of the next seven points to go up 21-19, Salisbury rallied with four unanswered points and were poised to pull off the win. Long and Pope scored back-to-back kills to tie things up, though, and the Tigers were back in it. Salisbury inched in front 24-23, but Trinity scored four of the final five points to take the win. Salisbury had two service errors in those final four points and McWilliams finished the victory with a kill.
Trinity scored three of the first four points to keep the momentum on its side of the net and eventually stormed out to a 13-3 lead with an 8-0 run. Verhoff had a pair of aces and Long had two kills and a block during the stretch that put the Tigers in control. Salisbury battled back with five straight points of its own to trim the lead to 16-12, but Trinity answered with four consecutive points to push the lead back to eight. Payton had a block (with McCarthy) and an ace to start, then McWilliams and Long finished it with kills. Salisbury got no closer than five points after that and Starr put a bow on the game with a block and two kills – including the clinching kill for the 25-17 win.
The third set was much like the second as Trinity jumped in front early for a 7-2 lead but got right back on the heels of the Tigers with a 4-0 run. Though Salisbury kept trimming the lead, the Tigers led wire to wire. A 5-0 stretch by Trinity, fueled by two kills by Pope and two blocks by Pope and McCarthy, extended the lead to 17-11. The Tigers never allowed more than two consecutive points the rest of the way, finishing by winning four of the final five points to clinch the sweep. Long and Starr both had kills in that final stretch.
The Rundown: Tufts
Tufts came out strong in the opening set by winning six of the first seven points and taking an 11-4 lead at one point. Trinity won five out of six points during one stretch to cut the lead to 14-11, then continued to fight its way to an 18-18 tie. The 7-1 run continued after the tie and eventually led to the Tigers taking their first lead, which was 21-19 by the end. Pope had two kills during the streak, while Long had a block, an ace, and a kill. Both teams traded scores after that, and the set was extended past 25 points. Trinity fought off a pair of set points and then Tufts did the same before the Tigers took a 30-29 lead. Tufts finished with three straight kills to finish off the victory and take the early 1-0 lead.
The Jumbos led 8-4 early in the second set but Trinity rallied to take a 10-9 lead. Four different Tigers had kills before two Tufts hitting errors put the visitors in front. Tufts kept Trinity within reach but couldn't take the lead until rattling off three straight scores for a 17-15 advantage. Pope answered with a kill and then
Brynn Bishop (Indianola, Iowa / Indianola) served up consecutive aces to give Trinity a brief 18-17 lead. That was Trinity's last lead of the set, though, as Tufts took control of the game with five straight points and a 22-18 lead. Pope and McCarthy knocked down kills to cut the lead to two, but Tufts held on for the win and the 2-0 lead.
Despite falling behind 3-0 to start the third set, Trinity scored eight of the next 10 points to lead 8-5 in the early going. The Tigers still led a few points later when Tufts scored five unanswered to pull in front 14-13. The lead changed hands several times after that, but Tufts closed out strong by scoring eight of the final nine points in the set to finish off the sweep.
Up Next
Trinity will face off against Bowdoin College (ME) at 11:00 a.m. (ET) tomorrow to finish its weekend in Massachusetts. The Tigers return home for the Trinity Fall Classic next weekend.
