(Story courtesy of Trinity University Sports Information Department)
CLAREMONT, Calif. – No. 6 Trinity University Volleyball collected its second sweep in as many matches of the 2022 NCAA III Women's Volleyball Championship Friday night, shutting down University of Chicago on the campus of top-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (CA).
The Tigers (27-4) were paced by Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year Sara Flynn with 14 kills on a .591 hitting percentage and four blocks.
Trinity forced Chicago to a .130 hitting percentage for the match, including the second-set even .000 on 35 swings, through 10 blocks powered by six from AVCA All-Region selection Maddie Fate and the sixth-straight match in double-digits for first-year libero Jenna Rodriguez with 14 digs.
The Tiger attack improved with each set Friday, culminating in a .357 third-set hitting clip of SCAC Freshman of the Year Reagan Whatley's eight kills, and three each for Flynn and senior middle blocker/rightside Brette Thornton's.
The Rundown
The opening set stayed within a point in either direction until a 7-1 run, powered through Fate blocks and a pair of Flynn kills jumped Trinity out to a 14-9 lead. The Maroons dwindled the margin, and even briefly held a 20-18 advantage after a Tiger timeout, but a 7-2 run that featured Fate's fourth block, ended the set for Trinity, 25-22.
The see-saw ceased to start the second as the Tigers pounced for a 9-1 set-opening streak as Chicago struggled to respond to the dominant blocking performance put forth by Fate, leading to five straight attack errors for the Maroons to open the frame. Trinity led by at least four points throughout, reaching a set-high nine-point lead at its conclusion through back-to-back Nadia Kern services aces, 25-16.
The Maroons mustered another back-and-forth set in the third until a 6-1 Trinity stretch that withstood a Chicago timeout pushed the Tigers to a 17-13 advantage. Flynn logged kills on back-to-back kills near the end of the third to post the first five-point advantage at 23-18, then again at 24-19.
Up Next
No. 6 Trinity Volleyball will face No. 1 Claremont-M-S, this weekend's host, in a Region 10 one-versus-two showdown and a rematch of September 10's East*West Classic matchup that marked the sixth of seven-straight nationally-ranked opponents in the first month of the season.
