Hartford, Conn. - The Trinity College volleyball team knocked off the University of St. Joseph in straight sets on Tuesday night in Oosting Gymnasium on Dig Pink night. Trinity improves to 5-8 overall with the win while the Blue Jays fall to 7-8 on the year. Dig Pink is a fundraising initiative for breast cancer awareness created by The Side-Out Foundation which directly funds "game-changing" breast cancer research and support. Trinity donned pink uniforms for the evening while fans wore pink in the crowd.

Trinity won the first set, 25-18, however the Blue Jays kept it close early. With the score tied, 10-10, early in the opening set, St. Joseph opened up a 13-10 lead after a kill from Cassandra Grimaldi (Manchester, Conn.) which caused Trinity to call a timeout to slow the momentum of the visitors. Trinity responded well out of the break as it rattled off a 4-1 run of its own and after a kill by junior Claudia Varner (Port Washington, N.Y.), the Blue Jays needed a timeout to regroup. The Bantams kept the pressure on as first-year Colette Scheffers (Flossmoor, Ill.) served up back-to-back aces to extend the Trinity lead to four as the hosts went on to win via a kill from sophomore Hanna Engstrom (Hopkinton, Mass.).

The Bantams controlled set two from the get go as they won, 25-9. Back-to-back aces by senior tri-captain Randi Whitham (Weymouth, Mass.) made the score, 15-6, in favor of Trinity as the Blue Jays called a timeout. Out of the timeout, Trinity scored five-straight points to take a commanding 20-6 lead before a block by first-year Carter Stancil (Orem, Utah) and an ace by senior tri-captain Shelby Deck (Newport Beach, Calif.) wrapped up the set to give Trinity a 2-0 lead in the match.

St. Joseph kept the third set close early but the Bantams, up 16-10, ran away with it before Whitham recorded her fourth kill of the night to seal the 25-17 set win and send Trinity home happy.

The Bantams had five players with hitting percentages over .300 as Whitham, Varner, Scheffers, sophomore Rachel Underwood (Danville, Calif.), and first-year Wyllie Boughton (Andover, Mass.) led the team offensively. Underwood and Scheffers each tallied nine kills while Scheffers led all players with three aces. Deck and Whitham both chipped in a pair of aces as well while Whitham led all players with 28 assists. For St. Joseph, Miah Giarnese (Torrington, Conn.) and Shytasia Williams (Middletown, Conn.) led the team with four kills each while teammate Breanna Miller (Cleary, Wash.) led all players with ten digs. 

Trinity returns to action this weekend as they travel to Maine to take on New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) opponents Colby and Bates on Friday and Saturday.

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