KERRVILLE, Texas – The Celts of the University of St. Thomas dropped their first two matches at their second Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend, this time hosted by Schreiner University.
St. Thomas was swept by Colorado College to begin play Saturday, and then lost a four-set match to host Schreiner in the evening contest.
The Celts (4-11, 2-6 SCAC) play two more matches Sunday, against Southwestern (Texas) and UDallas. They begin play Sunday against Southwestern at noon.
No. 9 Colorado College 3, UST 0
Colorado College, ranked ninth in the NCAA's Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, needed extra points in the third set before clinching the victory.
Scores of the match were 25-13, 25-19, and 26-24.
Alyssa Ajlouny (SO/Cypress, Texas) led the Celts with six kills, followed by Emily Jaroszewski (JR/Sugar Land, Texas)'s five kills and four block-assists. Kaylyn Latin (JR/Houston, Texas) led the UST defensive effort with 21 digs.
The match was closer than the scores indicated, as there were 11 tie scores and five lead changes in sets two and three alone. In set three, the Celts twice overcame deficits of four or more points, and even erased a 21-15 deficit by scoring six of the next seven points.
The Celts were close to taking the set when a kill by Ajlouny gave them a 24-23 lead, but the Tigers responded with three unanswered points to take the set and the match.
Schreiner 3, UST 1
In their second match of the day, the Celts fell behind two sets to none, but fended off a sweep before falling in four sets.
Scores of the match were 25-18, 25-21, 17-25, and 25-17.
Ajlouny again led the Celts with eight kills, which was followed by seven kills apiece from Kelsie Walker (JR/Baytown, Texas) and Alaina Lanik (FR/Richmond, Texas). Lanik also had 19 digs, which was second only to Latin's 22 digs on the Celts' defensive ledger.
The evening contest featured 20 ties and 14 lead changes over the four sets.
In the fourth set, the Celts held an early 9-4 lead, only to see their hosts tie the match at 15-apiece. The Mountaineers continued to score points down the stretch, as they scored 10 of the match's final 12 points.
