SUWANEE, Ga. - Top-seeded Colorado College earned its first-ever Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference volleyball championship with a 3-1 win over third-seeded DePauw. Colorado College's win earned the Tigers the SCAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship and the program's 13th straight NCAA bid.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College went 1-2 at the
SCAC Championship Tournament to finish the season with a 29-10
overall record. The fifth seeded ‘Roos lost a tough 3-2 match
against No. 4 Trinity. Jordan Anderton had 51 assists and Shelby
Eaves had 21 kills and 17 digs to lead the ‘Roos. The
‘Roos next faced No. 8 Millsaps and fell by a disappointing
3-0 margin to the Majors with Anderton recording 32 assists and
Jessica Fleming getting a team best 11 kills. The team finished up
the weekend with a 3-1 win over No. 6 Rhodes, topping the Lynx 3-1
to finish seventh at the 11 team tournament.
Birmingham-Southern wrapped up its season this
week with a single match on the road, traveling south to Montgomery
to face Faulkner University. The Panthers won 3-1 for their 25th
win of the season, culminating with a 25-11 overall record and a
10-6 record against SCAC opponents. Senior libero Jennifer McKannan
was honored as Backrow Player of the Year at the SCAC
Championships, and she also earned a Second-Team All-SCAC nod.
Freshman Alex Bothe was voted to the All-Conference Third Team.
No. 9 Colorado College makes its 13th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance on Friday when they play the winner of Thursday’s first-round match between Franklin & Marshall and Randolph Macon in Newport News, Va. CC, the regional’s top-seed, received a first-round bye for the second year in a row. The Tigers earned their first SCAC tournament title and automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament by coming from behind to defeat DePauw in Saturday’s championship match. Emily Perkins, the tournament MVP, had 16 kills, 22 digs and four blocked shots to lead CC. She hit .382 for the match with only three errors on 34 attacks. The victory gave Colorado College back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time in program history. Colorado College advanced to the championship match with a 25-13, 25-7, 25-11 victory over host Trinity.
For the third time in the last four years
DePauw advanced to the SCAC Championship match and
finished as the runner-up. The Tigers opened with a 3-0
quarterfinal win over Rhodes before defeating Centre 3-2 in the
semifinals. The Tigers then lost to 10th-ranked Colorado College
3-1 in the championship match. Annie Collier paced the Tigers
during the tournament with 36 kills, while Kristen Chynoweth hit
.320. Ali Smith led with 135 assists and Maggie Pajakowski totaled
six service aces. Madison Hoenig was the digs leader with 76 and
Chynoweth paced the squad with eight blocks.
Hendrix wrapped up its 2010 season with a
ninth-place finish at the SCAC Championships in San Antonio, Texas
on Friday and Saturday. The Warriors dropped a 3-0 opening
round match to No. 8 Millsaps on Friday morning and then earned a
thrilling 3-2 win over No. 10 Oglethorpe on Saturday
afternoon. Hendrix finishes the campaign 15-24 overall, its
most wins since going 16-19 in 2007. The Warriors earned their
second ninth-place finish in the last four seasons and improved on
2009’s 10th-place outing. Against Millsaps the Warriors
posted a .107 attack percentage as both team’s defenses were
showcased. Hendrix tallied 51 digs and eight block assists.
Senior outside hitter Becca Clancy led Hendrix with 12 kills and
sophomore middle blocker Melissa Clement added 10 kills to the
mix.
Millsaps split their games in the SCAC tournament this week to finish in sixth place after falling to second-seeded Southwestern. They posted 3-0 wins over both Hendrix and Austin College. Their other loss came to tournament champion Colorado College. The Majors finish the season with a 21-18 overall record and set a 6-9 mark against conference opponents.
Oglethorpe competed in San Antonio, Texas this
past weekend at the SCAC Volleyball Tournament and came home with a
tenth place result. The Petrels began play on Friday pitted against
Centre in a match the Colonels ultimately claimed, 3-0. Trupti
Patel led the attack for Oglethorpe against Centre with 10 kills
and 9 digs. On Saturday Oglethorpe began the morning session in the
10th / 11th Place Match by topping Sewanee, 3-1. Senior Sara Blair
recorded 19 kills, 8 digs and 2 block assists to led the
Petrels past the Tigers. Dawson collected 40 assists and Miller
added another 16 digs to her stellar career. Oglethorpe advanced to
the 9th / 10th Place Match where the lost a five set thriller to
Hendrix, 3-2. Oglethorpe carries a 10-26 overall record into a game
against visiting Covenant, Thursday at 6 p.m.
Rhodes finished 1-1 on Day 1 of the SCAC
Volleyball Championships. The team opened up the tournament with a
three set win versus Sewanee. In the final match of the day, the
team lost in three straight sets to DePauw right side Attackers
Lexie Krall and Phylicia Douglas led the Lynx with 7 kills apiece.
Setter Michelle Quina added 13 assists, 1 service ace and 8 digs.
Rhodes finished its 2010 season with two losses in the final day of
the SCAC Volleyball Tournament. The team lost to Southwestern in
three straight sets. Krall and Bethany Gunn led the team with 4
blocks apiece. Meagan Mansfield led the team with 10 kills in the
loss.
Sewanee finished out the season with an 0-2
showing in the SCAC Tournament. The Tigers fell in straight sets to
Rhodes on Friday. Against the Lynx, Erin Brahm led the Tigers with
three kills, eight assists, six digs and four blocks. Tarver Shimek
chipped in two service aces. On Saturday, Sewanee fell to
Oglethorpe, 3-1. After dropping the first set and trailing 22-14 in
the second set, the Tigers went on a 12-2 run sparked by three Liz
Boddiford kills to take the set 26-24. Oglethorpe took the next two
sets to win the match. Boddiford led the Tigers with eleven kills.
The Tigers complete the 2010 season with a 2-34 record.
No. 21 Southwestern finished the regular season with a 31-6 record but was upset in the opening round of the SCAC Conference Tournament to end in fifth in the conference. SU had a first round bye as the #2 seed and faced off with Centre in their first match. Southwestern easily won game one 25-15 but fell in game two and three 20-25 and 22-25 allowing the Colonels to get hot. After outlasting Centre in game four 30-28 and forcing game five the Pirates couldn't seem to get the lead they needed as they fell 15-9. Southwestern cruised to two victories on day two, returning to the Pirates of old by defeating Rhodes 3-0 and Millsaps 3-0. SU will square off against Presidents’ Athletic Conference champion Thomas More (Ky.) in the NCAA South Regional at Emory this weekend.
Trinity finished fourth at the SCAC Championships Tournament in San Antonio over the weekend. The fourth-seeded Tigers opened play with a 3-2 win against fifth seed Austin College on Friday, advancing to take on top seed Colorado College. Colorado College defeated Trinity 3-0 on its way to its first SCAC Championship. In the 3rd/4th place match, Trinity was upset by seventh seed Centre, which beat two of the top four seeds in the tournament this weekend. It marks the first time in conference history that the Tigers finished fourth in the SCAC, following last season’s third place finish.
For the complete SCAC Spikes Weekly for Week 10, click here.