SUWANEE, Ga. - Thanks to a 5-0 record on the week, the Southwestern University Pirates extended their winning streak to 17 games. The Pirates now sport a 20-3 overall record and a perfect 10-0 mark in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play.
Colorado College picked up a huge win as the Tigers knocked off NCAA Division II No. 18 Metropolitan State by a 3-2 margin.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College went
3-1 over the weekend to improve to 19-4 overall and 8-3 in
conference play, topping Millsaps, Rhodes and Hendrix before
falling to Trinity. Against Millsaps, the ‘Roos won 3-0 with
Jessi Fleming tallying 14 kills to lead the way. In the match
against Rhodes, the ‘Roos won 3-1 with Fleming again getting
14 kills and Jordan Anderton registering 41 assists. Jenna Wilson
also had a strong match with 10 kills and 15 digs. The ‘Roos
topped Hendrix 3-0 and once again it was Fleming with a team-best
11 kills, while Anderton had 36 assists and Wilson and Kendra
Norris each had 11 digs. In the final match of the weekend the
‘Roos fell 3-0 to Trinity, with Fleming getting a team best
nine kills and Anderton adding 31 assists. Wilson had another
strong match, totaling eight kills and 17 digs.
Birmingham-Southern traveled to Conway, Ark.,
this past weekend for the SCAC Central/West Divisional, hosted by
Hendrix College. In all, three of the Panthers’ four
opponents were ranked in the top 15 in the nation. On Saturday, BSC
fell to No. 14 Southwestern University, 3-0, and No. 12 Colorado
College, 3-1. On Sunday, the team lost to No. 15 Trinity
University, 3-1, but defeated Rhodes College, 3-0. Also on Sunday,
with 17 kills in the match against Trinity, senior outside hitter
Sarah Harris became BSC’s all-time kills leader, passing the
previous mark of 1,541 set by Rachel Malmborg back in 2004. Harris
now has 1,563 career kills and is 26 digs away from becoming the
all-time leader in that category as well.
Centre played one match this week, a home contest
on Friday night against Defiance College. After dropping the first
game to the visiting Yellow Jackets 29-31, the Colonels rallied
back to win the next two 25-11 and 25-21 before dropping the fourth
game 18-25 and eventually prevailing in the fifth game 15-10. Next
up for Centre is their second East/West divisional hosted by
Colorado College Oct. 16-17.
Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Schmoker had three of her 11 kills
late in the fifth set to help No. 14 Colorado
College come from behind to post a 3-2 victory over
Metropolitan State College, ranked No. 18 in Division II, on
Tuesday night. The 12th-ranked Tigers improved to 18-2 and extended
their winning streak to seven matches with the first five-set
victory of the season. CC won a pair of SCAC contests to reach the
20-victory mark for the seventh consecutive season and the ninth
time in head coach Rick Swan’s 12-year tenure. Schmoker had
12 kills and hit .478 as Tigers defeated Rhodes College 3-0.
Goldsmith had 14 kills and 17 digs, her fourth double-double in
eight matches, to help CC post a 3-1 victory over
Birmingham-Southern. Colorado College got double-doubles from
Schmoker and Perkins in the weekend finale, but it wasn’t
enough to get past Southwestern. Perkins became just the third
player in school history to record 1,000 career kills and 1,000
career digs with 21 digs against Southwestern. Colorado College
plays host to the SCAC East-West Crossover Matches at Reid
Gymnasium next weekend. The Tigers face Oglethorpe and Centre
College on Friday, and then close out their conference schedule on
Saturday against Sewanee and Trinity.
DePauw improved to 18-5 on the season with a 3-0
(26-24, 25-14, 25-19) win in their only match of the week. Abby
Balbach had 11 kills, while Katey Larson finished with 10. Ali
Smith totaled 34 assists with Kylee Lehrman totaling four aces.
Madison Hoenig led with 22 digs and Kristen Chynoweth had seven
blocks.
Hendrix suffered four SCAC losses as host of the
Central vs. West Divisional Crossover No. 2 over the weekend, after
taking a 3-0 win over Central Baptist College on Tuesday night.
Hendrix fell to 8-18 overall and 2-9 in league play after the week
of five games. On a brighter not, the Warriors picked up their
first set victory over #15 Trinity in program history during their
3-1 loss to the Tigers on Saturday afternoon. Hendrix then finished
the crossover with three 0-3 games to #14 Southwestern, Austin, and
Millsaps. Junior outside hitter Becca Clancy led the team with 42
kills on the week, while sophomore setter Ashley Skinner added a
team-best 81 assists and junior libero Kim Larson made a team-high
90 digs.
Millsaps (12-12, 4-7
SCAC) ended a tough week where they went 2-3. The Majors opened
play with a 3-0 non-conference win at Rust College before heading
to Hendrix for a SCAC Cross-Divisional. On Saturday, Millsaps got
swept 3-0 by both Austin College and No. 15 ranked Trinity
University. Starting play Sunday morning, the Majors took a set
from No. 12 ranked Colorado College, but fell 3-1 before regrouping
to defeat host Hendrix College 3-0. Junior Kate Hall led the team
with 51 kills and junior Erica Cook led the defense with 67 digs
over the week. Millsaps will take a week off before continuing its
15-match road trip at Mississippi College on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
Oglethorpe won two non-conference matches over
Berry and Agnes Scott this past week to raise their record to 10-12
on the season. The win over Berry was a five set thriller as the
Petrels not only rallied from being down two sets to none but also
stormed back to win the final 7 points in the fifth set to claim
the victory. Berry took the first two sets 25-19 and 25-23 before
Oglethorpe dug in to claim the third set 25-22 and the fourth set
16-14. The Petrels topped Agnes Scott in more traditional fashion,
sweeping the Scotties 3-0. The Petrels host two non-conference
matches on Tuesday before heading to Colorado Springs this weekend
for SCAC Divisional matches.
Rhodes had another tough weekend in SCAC play
going 0-4 at the second Central-West Divisional. Senior outside
Hitter Kelsea Everett led the team with 35 kills and 30 digs.
Sophomore Right Side Hitter Olivia Wells had a stand out
performance in the team’s loss to Southwestern when she led
the team with 8 kills on 17 attempts hitting .471 for the
match.
Sewanee played at Rust College Friday night and
after dropping the first set 23-25, won the following three 25-18,
25-15 and 25-16 for the eventual 3-1 win. The Tigers are under the
new leadership of Katy Caine, who picks up her third win as a
college head coach at Rust. Sammie Maddox led with nine kills,
while Erin Brahm had 31 assists. Kim Conkell led defensively with
four blocks. Sewanee is now 3-15 and will play four SCAC matches at
Colorado College in Colorado Springs next weekend before hosting
Maryville College on the Mountain October 20.
No. 13 Southwestern continued their solid play
and extended their win streak to 17 with four conference wins and
one non-conference win. Tuesday, the Pirates traveled up I-35 for a
match against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. SU recorded a
.333 team hitting percentage en route to the 3-0 win. At the SCAC
West/Central Cross #2 Southwestern dropped just one game during the
weekend to win 3-0 over Birmingham- Southern, 3-0 over Hendrix, 3-0
over Rhodes and 3-1 over Colorado College. Senior Audra Gentry led
the way with 44 kills on the weekend while sophomore Lindsay
Thompson was close behind with 38. Senior Sam Lingamfelter had 72
digs over the weekend, including 24 against BSC. The Pirates will
face Centre, Oglethorpe, DePauw and Austin next weekend in Colorado
Springs, Colo. at the SCAC West/East Cross.
No. 15 Trinity swept through the competition at
the SCAC West-Central Divisional last weekend, earning a 4-0
overall record at the tournament. Trinity defeated Hendrix and
Millsaps for the second time this season on Saturday afternoon,
then beat Birmingham-Southern and Austin College on Sunday. The
Tigers lost just two sets over the weekend to improve to 9-2 in
SCAC play this season. Ginger Haley hit a blistering .554 for the
weekend to lead the Tigers, hammering out 45 kills and recording 15
blocks in 14 sets played. Haley hit .750 against hosting Hendrix to
open the tournament, which is tied for the sixth-highest
single-match hitting percentage in school history. Caiti Troyer
tallied 160 assists and 51 digs over the weekend, while Aly
Hazelwood had 19 blocks and five service aces. Trinity will
continue SCAC play this weekend, traveling to Colorado College for
four matches. The Tigers will face Sewanee and DePauw on the first
day, then will take on Oglethorpe and hosts Colorado College.
Earlier this season, Trinity defeated Sewanee and Colorado College
3-0 and 3-1, respectively; however, DePauw beat Trinity 3-0 in
Greencastle, Ind. at the end of September.
For the complete SCAC Spikes Weekly for Week 6, click here.