Trinity University

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - No. 5 Trinity Volleyball drops Southern Athletic Association (SAA) opener to No. 9 Berry College.

The Tigers (8-3, 0-1 SAA) fell to Berry in a tightly contested 3-1 match. Lily Long (Glenview, Illinois / New Trier) led the squad with 17 kills. Lauren McCarthy (Corrales, New Mexico / Horizon) and Courtney Pope (New Braunfels, Texas / Canyon) both tallied 12 kills while hitting above .300. Annabelle Lanik (Sugar Land, Texas / St. John's) had 25 digs and added two service aces. Kendall DeRivel (Westlake Village, California / Viewpoint) did well commanding the offense, nabbing a season-high 32 assists. Trinity is now 7-2 all-time against Berry. 

The Rundown

Trinity came out firing in the opening set, scoring the first three points behind back-to-back kills from Courtney Pope and a Berry attack error. Berry later used a four-point run to turn an 8-7 Trinity lead into an 11-8 deficit, then added another four-point stretch to extend its advantage to 18-11. The Tigers began to chip away as Amelia Payton (Acworth, Georgia / Harrison) opened a three-point run with a kill before Lily Long delivered back-to-back kills to cut the deficit to 19-15. Trinity followed with another three unanswered points that included a Long kill to pull within two at 20-18. After falling behind 22-20, the Tigers made their biggest push of the set with four straight points. Long started the run with a kill and followed with a service ace, while Payton recorded a solo block and Taylor Starr (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) and Pope combined for another block to give Trinity a 24-22 advantage. Pope eventually put the set away with a kill as the Tigers took the opener 25-23.

The second set remained close early before Trinity put together a four-point run to take a 9-7 lead. McCarthy started the stretch with a kill before a Berry attack error, a Starr and Angelica Medina (Houston, Texas / Summer Creek) block, and a McCarthy service ace completed the run. Trinity eventually built its advantage to 13-9, but Berry responded with a decisive 10-point run that turned the Tigers' four-point lead into a 19-13 deficit. The stretch included Trinity attack errors and a setting error as Berry took control of the frame. Later, Berry added five consecutive points to extend its lead from 19-15 to 24-15 before Trinity broke the run with a block from Payton and McCarthy. Berry closed out the second set 25-16.

Trinity found its rhythm midway through the third set, using three consecutive kills to turn a 7-7 tie into a 10-7 advantage. Long recorded the first two kills before Pope finished the run with another termination. Berry later answered with three straight points to move ahead 14-13 before putting together a five-point run that stretched its lead from 14-14 to 19-14. Trinity fought back late in the set, however, scoring three consecutive points with Berry sitting at set point. Pope and Aeris Vera (San Antonio, Texas / Pieper) combined for a block to start the rally, a Berry attack error followed, and McCarthy delivered a kill off a DeRivel assist to bring the Tigers within three at 24-21. Berry stopped the comeback on the following rally and won the third set 25-21.

The Tigers opened the fourth set with an early three-point surge as McCarthy, Mae Noerager (Homewood, Alabama / Homewood) and Lily Long recorded consecutive kills to give Trinity a 3-1 advantage. Berry later answered with three straight points to tie the set at 5-5. With the Tigers trailing 10-9, Trinity put together another three-point run behind a Berry service error, an Annie Witt (Liberty Hill, Texas / Liberty Hill) kill and a DeRivel service ace, helping Trinity move in front 12-10 before eventually taking a 16-12 lead. Berry responded with four consecutive points to tie the frame at 16-16 and later used another three-point run to move ahead 19-17. Trinity answered immediately with three straight points of its own as Pope recorded a kill before Vera teamed with Witt and then Pope for consecutive blocks, giving the Tigers a 20-19 lead. The teams traded points deep into the set before Berry scored the final three points after a 25-25 tie to take the fourth set 27-25 and the match 3-1.

Up Next

The Tigers will be back in Calgaard Gym to take on No. 14 Centre College at 10:30 AM and Oglethorpe at 3:00 PM.