The University of St. Thomas volleyball team faced a tough opponent in the #22 Trinity Tigers Saturday afternoon in the Jerabeck Activity and Athletic Center, falling 3-1 in the Celt Classic. St. Thomas pounced on the Tigers, took the 1st set 25-20, and looked ready to win their first-ever match against Trinity. It takes more than one punch to knock the Tigers out like all great champions. The Celts continued to fight and pushed the defending SCAC champs to 4 sets before bowing out. The loss drops the Celts to 9-10 overall and 4-4 in SCAC play.

After a back-and-forth 1st set, the Celts built an 18-12 lead and kept the Tigers at bay until eventually claiming a 25-20 victory. The second set saw Trinity take an early 7-0 lead before the Celts scored. St. Thomas clawed their way back into the game at 15-12 but could not close the gap any further, and the Tigers held on to win 25-18.

The third and fourth sets mirrored the 2nd, each tightly contested until the midway point. With high energy on both sides, the Celts and Tigers fought until Trinity pulled away and eventually won both sets with set scores of 25-17 and 25-19.

Leading the Celts was sophomore Alexis Bodunrin with a match high16 kills, hitting at a .293 clip. Audrey Cataline contributed 11 kills and a career-high 24 digs, while Jazilyn Davis performed efficiently with 10 kills. Defensively, Kara Spice anchored the backline with 25 digs, while Kendall Howard added 7 digs and 22 assists. Sophomore Noor Haydari saw significant playing time for the second match in a row and added 4 kills.

Up Next

Things get more challenging for the Celts as they host the Southwestern Pirates on Sunday afternoon. Match time is 12:30 PM at the JAAC. Stay updated with UST Volleyball at www.ustcelts.com or follow @USTAthletics and @ustwvball on Instagram and X.