Hartford, Conn. – The Trinity College volleyball team defeated Colby-Sawyer, 3-1, on Wednesday evening to improve to 3-4 on the year, while the loss drops the Chargers to 2-13. Senior Hunter Drews (Clifton Park, N.Y.) led the Bantams with four aces while fellow co-captain Kate Giddens (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) continued her strong play with 20 kills. Juniors Amanda Horan (Rumson, N.J.) and Shelby Deck (Newport Beach, Calif.) combined for 41 of the team's 46 assists and freshman Rachel Underwood (Danville, Calif.) led the Bantams with 16 digs.

The Bantams got out to an early 3-0 lead in the first set before a 5-2 run by Colby-Sawyer tied things up at five. Trinity then scored five unanswered points thanks to two kills by Drews and errors by Colby-Sawyer which caused the Chargers to take a timeout to re-group. Colby-Sawyer figured things out after the timeout and came back to cut the lead to one at 16-15. A kill followed by an ace from Giddens put Trinity ahead by three and the Bantams kept the lead for the remainder of the set, winning by a score of 25-22.

Trinity got out to a good start again in the second set as they led the Chargers 7-2. Colby-Sawyer charged back however, and tied things up at 9-9. The teams traded points back and forth before the Bantams took a timeout with the score 24-23 in favor of Trinity. Out of the timeout, Colby-Sawyer scored first to tie things at 24. Freshman Hanna Engstrom (Hopkinton, Mass.) put the Bantams up 25-24 on a hard shot kill, but the Chargers countered with two kills of their own to go up 26-25 and force Trinity to take a timeout. Giddens would record a kill to tie the set, followed by an unforced attack error by Colby-Sawyer that put Trinity up by one. However, the Chargers came back and knotted the score once more at 28 all. Up 29-28, Colby-Sawyer won the set on an attack error by Trinity to tie the match at one set each.

The third set saw Colby-Sawyer take a 14-11 lead, only for Trinity to eventually take it back, 17-15. The Bantams extended the lead to 21-16 causing the Chargers to take a timeout. Not much changed out of the timeout, and Trinity won the set 25-19 on a strategically placed kill from Drews.

Watch a nice point by the Bants in the third set. 

Set four was won by the Bantams despite Colby-Sawyer having the momentum early. The Bantams battled back to tie things up at 14 and eventually took the lead, 19-18, after consecutive kills by Giddens near the net. A block by Engstrom put Trinity up 21-19 and after a Giddens kill, it seemed like they would run away with the set. However, two unforced errors allowed Colby-Sawyer to cut the lead to 22-21. Trinity eventually won the set and the match after a kill, followed by an ace from Giddens.

Gabrielle Rodriguez (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) and Kelsey Sullivan (Laconia, N.H.) combined for 24 kills for Colby-Sawyer while teammate Lexi Strong (Somersworth, N.H.) led all players with 22 digs.

Trinity returns to action on Friday, Sept. 25, as they travel to Middletown, Conn. to take on New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) in-state rival, Wesleyan. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.