Trinity University senior setter Kendall DeRivel stood behind the service line and waited for the start of the second set. Her team had just captured the opening frame of a quarterfinal match on Thursday at the Southern Athletic Association tournament at Calgaard Gym.

The Tigers had the momentum in a contest with plenty of ramifications, but DeRivel’s attention was focused elsewhere.

“I’m just thinking about how they beat us two times before, and how much I want to take things into my own hands and send them home,” she said.

The California native did as much. She served for seven aces in the second set alone, including five during a 7-0 opening salvo, as Trinity (21-8), ranked No. 20 in NCAA Division III, swept Millsaps 25-16, 25-10, 25-7.

The Tigers, the event’s No. 3 seed, will take on No. 2-seeded Berry in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Friday. The teams met in last year’s tournament finale, with Berry prevailing, and both went on to advance to the national semifinals. The Vikings have defeated Trinity twice this season.

“I think our players came out with the right energy, came out with the right belief and determination,” Trinity coach Julie Jenkins said. “We never let up. Not for one minute. It really didn’t matter who was on the other side of the net. I thought these guys just really came out focused and dialed in. It was a great, balanced performance.”

The Tigers have long been the frontrunners of any conference they were affiliated. They were the team that always finished at the top. This season, though, there was an unfamiliar outcome. Trinity was third in the league and lost twice to Millsaps after winning the first 35 matches in the series before this season.

In the lead-up to this weekend’s conference tournament, Jenkins preached about a restart. Nothing that mattered in the previous months, she said, mattered now.

“After our regular season, we just kind of wanted to come into this game with a clean slate,” said Trinity junior libero Annabelle Lanik, who had a team-high 15 digs. “We wanted to prove ourselves. Now that it’s postseason, it’s kind of like do or die, so it makes the stakes a little bit higher.”

Trinity was up to the task. Courtney Pope headlined a balanced and efficient attack that finished with a .398 hitting percentage with nine kills. Freshman Amelia Payton had eight kills without an error and also added four aces. Lauren McCarthy, Connelley McWilliams and Taylor Starr paced a blocking effort that netted two solo blocks and 12 assisted rejections.

The spotlight belonged to DeRivel, who flirted with a triple-double with 17 assists, seven digs and seven aces. The seven aces are tied for the 12th-most in school history for a single contest.

“I don’t know what took over me,” DeRivel said after Trinity finished with 15 aces on the night. “Being able to look at my teammates and see how much they care about me fuels me to want even more to better the team and elevate our play.”

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