Nationally ranked 45th
Trinity Finishes 25th
Nationals
Kansas City, Missouri--April 11-14, 2001
Trinity Men’s Volleyball, a squad of misfits and troublemakers, disregarded supposed “tornado warnings” to fly into Kansas City for the 2001 Club Nationals. Showing what a tight nit group they were, players arranged their own flights and then bragged to each other about how much money they had saved by flying out of Austin at ungodly hours of the morning with 15 layovers and the seat by the engine.
Though punctuality had been important through the season two players missed their flight because they were too late to the airport.
Strategically planned, Trinity lulled other teams into a false sense of security during hitting lines by hitting almost all balls into the net. Starting players had to pit-fight for balls as non-starters tried to show their hitting prowess, much to the chagrin of the coach. One non-starter was heard to comment, “These are the most expensive hitting lines ever!”
Day #1 of the tournament saw Trinity, for the first time in club history, not play in the first match of the day. Though thankful for reprieve, the Tigers were not able to capitalize on their good fortune and fell to Central Michigan 11-15 in the third game.
Continuing to show their nerves, the Tigers passed negative and dropped two close matches to Bowling Green St. (22-25 ; 22-25)
The Tigers were able to rally at the end of the day to steamroll Northeastern in two decisive games (25-18 ; 25-16) ensuring a spot in the challenge round the next morning.
Day # 2 started with Trinity, much more used to early morning play, putting the smack down on Maine (25-0 ; 25-18). We would like to thank setter Jeff Ray for serving 25 straight points (not).
Moving into the Championship Bracket the worst the Tigers could do was finish in the top half of the 64 teams. Trinity proceeded to get monkey stomped by both Providence (11-25 ; 11-25) who went on to win the DII tournament and Lakeland (14-25 ; 18-25) who tied for 9th. Saving face at the end of the day, the Tigers put it to Penn State Altuna finishing the day with a win 25-21 ; 25-20).
Although the Final day of competition seemed to favor the Tigers, with a bright and early start at 8:00 am, the team struggled early and lost (18-22 ; 22-25) to W. Illinois Univ. While always hard to loose, the tournament was a great success with Trinity securing its highest finish ever at Nationals.
Trinity began the tournament ranked #45 in the nation in the DII rankings. The team left nationals in 25th.
GENERAL INFORMATION