No one really knew what to expect going in to the tournament this year, we were a little slow getting our check in to reserve our spot in Division II so got bumped into the Division III which is reserved for second teams and overflow from Div. II. Our setter, Danny Miller, quit the team two weeks before Nationals (a week before conference) so we were forced to run a 6-2. Worse yet, one of our "new" setters is in the band and could not get out of a concert performance and could not make the trip. This meant that Eric Barta, Senior and regular right side hitter for the team had to step in and set for the first time in his volleyball career. Our backup right side could not come up with the money to pay for the trip so stayed home.

In all we took two non-setters, two new right sides and had our middles pass and play defense all the way around, something they have not done all year.

We entered the tournament ranked #9 out of 36 teams.

On Thursday we had our first games and ended up with a bye first match because a team had dropped out of the tournament. We were all worried that we had now paid all this money and traveled this far and were going to have fewer games.
 

Match	Time	Matchup	Game 1		Game 2		Game 3		Winner	Loser
3017	9:00 am	Trinity vs. Bye-4	25	0	25	0			Trinity	Bye-4
3035	11:00 am	Trinity vs. GrgeWashU	25	21	25	23			Trinity	GrgeWashU
3053	1:00 pm	Trinity vs. GenesCC	20	25	25	19	9	15	GenesCC	Trinity

Because we did not come out first in our Thursday pool we had to play a challenge round on Friday morning to see what teams would go to the top half and which to the bottom half of competition. We beat Lee University in our morning challenge match.

Match	Time	Matchup	Game 1		Game 2		Game 3		Winner	Loser
3055	8:00 am	Trinity vs. LeeU	25	19	22	25	15	12	Trinity	LeeU

We went on to loose both our afternoon matches sending us to the Silver bracket with the middle third of the teams.

Match	Time	Matchup	Game 1		Game 2		Game 3		Winner	Loser
3070	2:00 pm	Trinity vs. ColoradoB	17	25	22	25			ColoradoB	Trinity
3082	4:00 pm	IllinoisB vs. Trinity	25	20	18	25	15	9	IllinoisB	Trinity

To my knowledge Trinity has never won a game on Saturday, the single elimination portion of the tournament. We started out the morning with a bye, as a top ranked team coming down to Silver. We went on to beat the College of NJ and Kent State and found ourselves in the finals of the Silver bracket playing for the tournament's overall 13th spot. We lost the final match to the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh's second team.

Match	Time	Matchup	Game 1		Game 2		Game 3		Winner	Loser
3118	11:45 am	Trinity vs. CollNJ	17	25	25	18	19	17	Trinity	CollNJ
3127	2:15 pm	Trinity vs. KentSt	25	20	25	23			Trinity	KentSt
3131	4:45 pm	UWOshB vs. Trinity	25	15	20	25	15	8	UWOshB	Trinity

All in all it was a fantastic trip and Trinity was well represented. We appreciate the opportunity to represent the University on such a public stage and look forward to traveling to Nationals again next April 8-10 in Charlotte, NC.