SAN ANTONIO – The #20 Trinity University volleyball team advanced to the Southern Athletic Association Championships after scoring a 3-0 sweep in the Semifinals against #9 Berry College (GA) on Friday evening.

The #3 seed Tigers (22-8) won 25-11, 25-14, and 25-23 against the #2 seed Vikings (23-6) to move on in the tournament. Berry won both regular season meetings between the two teams, but Trinity was able to put those results behind them and take today's win. Trinity held Berry to a negative hitting percentage in the opening set, while the Tigers hit .500 as a team to start the match. Berry finished at just over .100 for the match, committing 19 hitting errors and finishing with 30 kills. Trinity finished with 41 kills and held an 11-4 lead in aces on the night.

Lily Long (Glenview, Ill. / New Trier) just missed a double-double with 12 kills and nine digs in the match, finishing with a .320 hitting percentage, and also leading the team with four service aces. Lauren McCarthy (Corrales, N.M. / Horizon) hit .750 with nine kills on 12 attacks and tied with Taylor Starr (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) for the team lead with four blocks. Emma Reeves (Plano, Texas / East) led the team with 18 assists, followed closely with 16 assists to go with three aces and five digs. Courtney Pope (New Braunfels, Texas / Canyon) also added three blocks and four kills, while Amelia Payton (Acworth, Ga. / Harrison) had seven kills, two aces, and five digs.

The Rundown
After trading consecutive points for both sides, Trinity made the first big run of the game to take an 8-4 lead. Pope had back-to-back kills and a block during that run, which was followed by Berry scoring three of the next four points. Trinity's answer turned the match around as the Tigers rattled off eight unanswered points to take a 17-7 lead. McCarthy had two kills and a block and McWilliams also added a block and a kill. That was all Trinity needed for the win and Long scored three kills among the final five points to put the Tigers up 1-0.

Trinity opened the second set with four straight points and took a 7-1 lead to steal the early momentum. Long had a kill and an ace at the end of the initial streak. Berry pulled the lead back to 9-4, but another long Tiger run put the Vikings on their heels once again. McCarthy and McWilliams combined for a block and both players added kills during a 7-0 run that put Trinity in front 16-4. The lead was never single digits the rest of the way, though Berry tried to string together points to attempt a rally. Instead, Long scored two kills and an ace among four Trinity points for a 22-9 lead. Berry went on a 5-2 run at the end, but Payton finished off the set with another kill.

Trinity started with another 3-0 run and took an 8-2 lead early in the third set. DeRivel and Long both had aces among the first eight points and Starr added two kills. Berry would not go down without a fight, though, and used a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 16-15 midway through the game. Trinity answered with three straight points that included back-to-back combo blocks from Pope and Starr, but Berry came right back with another 5-0 run and took a 20-19 lead. It was a battle from there as the teams traded points down the stretch. The Tigers scored four of the last five to clinch the sweep, though, and advance to the finals. Long had two kills among the final four points – including the final score of the night.

Up Next
Trinity will take on fourth-ranked and #1 seed Centre College (KY) in the SAA Championship Match tomorrow at 12:00 p.m.