Last weekend the Trinity women’s volleyball opened their season with four games at the Mary Hardin-Baylor Invitational. On Friday, the Tigers played University of Texas-Dallas and Hardin-Simmons. They defeated both teams 3-1. Because volleyball is played tournament style, each weekend Trinity plays multiple teams, which requires a lot of mental toughness.

“They really have to treat every match as a match where they’re going to give 100 percent physically and mentally. You have to have a short memory when you lose and when you win. You can’t get too confident. You have to want to win every match and really fight to win every match. It’s a challenge; there’s no doubt about it. I think our team showed how mentally prepared they were this year more than the year before just by what they did this weekend,” said Head Coach Julie Jenkins.

The Tigers defeated UT-Dallas in four matches. They won the first match very closely, 25-21, but then conceded the second by more than 10 points. They went on to take the next two matches 25-20 and 25-21. The Tigers completed the match with 60 points, 44 kills and 35 aces. Kills represent when the Tigers score a point through a spike. An ace occurs when a kill happens on a Trinity serve.

The Tigers defeated Hardin-Simmons in four matches, a team to whom they had previously lost in five matches last year. It was a close game with each match differential within seven or less points. The Tigers ended the match with 62 points, 54 kills and 47 aces.

“We played really well as a team.  We started off well”“a lot better than we started off last season. We were hitting really well, picking up balls really well. The only game we fell to was Mary Hardin-Baylor, but we recovered quickly,” said junior right-side hitter Bridget Bohman.

On Saturday the Tigers fell to Mary Hardin-Baylor 3-0, but then came back to defeat East Texas Baptist 3-0.

“Even though we lost that match 3-0, they were three really tightly played games,” Jenkins said.

The Tigers were up in the first and second matches, but could not close out the games. They lost each set within four points. Despite the loss, the Tigers ended the game with 49 points, 40 kills and 35 aces.

“I think that it is a team that we can beat. It was great volleyball; we were just a little too high error and not as scrappy as we have been on defense. I thought our team showed a lot of maturity and recovered quickly when we came out and beat East Texas Baptist in three games, a team who is also very good. Overall I thought our team did very well and I think it’s a great start to the season,” Jenkins said.

The Tigers culminated their weekend tournament with a win against East Texas Baptist. They finished in three sets with a total of 45 points, 36 kills and 31 aces.

“When we go into a tournament, we expect to win each game. This year we are more confident because we have many returning players who have seen a lot of playing time. Our mindset into each game is that we are the best team. We work as hard as we possibly can,” said senior defensive specialist, Leslie Green.

Trinity travels to Virginia next weekend to play at the Randolph-Macon Invitational. They will be playing Maryville, Virginia Wesleyan, Averett, Emory and Randolph-Macon.