Posted: Oct 28, 2013
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The field is set for next weekend's SCAC Volleyball Tournament as Trinity University knocked off Colorado College this past weekend to earn the No. 1 seed at home. Colorado College and Southwestern each were 3-1 on the weekend to solidify the No. 2 and 3 spots while Austin College and Schreiner strung together a pair of 2-2 weekends.
AROUND THE SCAC
The Austin College volleyball team went 2-2
at the final Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
Cross-Divisional over the weekend, topping both Texas Lutheran and
Schreiner by scores of 3-2 and falling by 3-0 scores to Trinity and
Southwestern, bringing the team’s record to 18-17 overall on
the season and locking them into the fifth seed in the upcoming
SCAC Tournament in San Antonio. Shelby Eaves led the way for Austin
College by averaging 4.0 kills and 3.75 digs per set, and Rachel
Fusselman averaged 5.25 digs per set in the four matches. Kelsey
Klingler averaged a team best 6.38 assists per set and Madison Lee
added 2.44 kills for the ‘Roos. Presleigh Watson had a solid
weekend as well, averaging 1.88 kills and 0.88 blocks with a .223
hitting percentage. This weekend the ‘Roos wrap up the
regular season in Georgetown at the SCAC/ASC Challenge.
Centenary fell in the final four matches of SCAC action dropping in straight sets to Trinity, Schreiner, Southwestern and Texas Lutheran. Sarah Sumner finished the cross-divisional with 37 kills while Beth Nuttall added 84 assists to lead the Ladies. Chelsea Petska led the defensive effort for the Maroon and White with 47 digs for the four matches. Centenary returns to the court this weekend as the Ladies travel to Longview, Texas, for three non-conference outings against LeTourneau, Rust College and UT-Tyler.
No. 8 Colorado College made short work of Southwestern and Schreiner on Saturday, thanks to the efforts of freshman Abbe Holtze, along with sophomores Courtney Birkett and Lauren Hahn. Holtze hammered down 11 kills and Birkett 10 in an a sweep of the Pirates. Holtze added 13 digs in the triumph while sophomores Sophie Merrifield and Karina Guerrero posted 28 and 14, respectively. Junior middle hitter Kristen Liberty and Hahn chipped in with seven kills apiece, with freshman Keli Sherwood adding six. Liberty had a hand in four blocks. Hahn and Holtze each had 12 kills as CC cruised to a three-set victory over the Mountaineers in the second match of the day. Birkett had nine kills and Sherwood seven in the later match, when freshman Rebecca Watson dished up 40 assists. For the second time this season, Colorado College lost to Trinity and finished second in the regular-season standings. The Tigers, who dropped the first set for the first times this season, were led by Holtze with 14 kills and 11 digs which gave her 11 double-doubles for the season. Merrifield recorded 23 digs against TU, giving her 12 matches with more than 20 digs this year. She needs only six kills to become the third Tiger to record 600 or more in a single season. Sophomore Emily Phillips and Holtze fueled the victory over Texas Lutheran with 12 kills apiece. Colorado College will play host to Johnson & Wales University (Nov. 1) and CSU Pueblo (Nov. 5) to close out the regular season.
The Dallas volleyball team (17-16, 4-10 SCAC) went 1-3 on the week in conference road matches hosted by Austin. On Saturday, in Sherman, Texas, Dallas succumbed 3-1 to Schreiner (22-25, 21-25, 25-20, 21-25), before falling to Southwestern (27-29, 22-25, 22-25) in straight sets. On Sunday, head coach Amy Byfield’s squad trekked to a 3-1 decision over Texas Lutheran (25-16, 25-15, 25-19), but then lost 3-0 to Trinity (19-25, 16-25, 19-25). Having run through their full slate of SCAC-play, Dallas enters the conference championship tournament as the No. 7 seed. The Crusaders will combat No. 2 seed Colorado on Friday, Nov. 8, at 12:30 p.m. in San Antonio.
Centenary fell in the final four matches of SCAC action dropping in straight sets to Trinity, Schreiner, Southwestern and Texas Lutheran. Sarah Sumner finished the cross-divisional with 37 kills while Beth Nuttall added 84 assists to lead the Ladies. Chelsea Petska led the defensive effort for the Maroon and White with 47 digs for the four matches. Centenary returns to the court this weekend as the Ladies travel to Longview, Texas, for three non-conference outings against LeTourneau, Rust College and UT-Tyler.
No. 8 Colorado College made short work of Southwestern and Schreiner on Saturday, thanks to the efforts of freshman Abbe Holtze, along with sophomores Courtney Birkett and Lauren Hahn. Holtze hammered down 11 kills and Birkett 10 in an a sweep of the Pirates. Holtze added 13 digs in the triumph while sophomores Sophie Merrifield and Karina Guerrero posted 28 and 14, respectively. Junior middle hitter Kristen Liberty and Hahn chipped in with seven kills apiece, with freshman Keli Sherwood adding six. Liberty had a hand in four blocks. Hahn and Holtze each had 12 kills as CC cruised to a three-set victory over the Mountaineers in the second match of the day. Birkett had nine kills and Sherwood seven in the later match, when freshman Rebecca Watson dished up 40 assists. For the second time this season, Colorado College lost to Trinity and finished second in the regular-season standings. The Tigers, who dropped the first set for the first times this season, were led by Holtze with 14 kills and 11 digs which gave her 11 double-doubles for the season. Merrifield recorded 23 digs against TU, giving her 12 matches with more than 20 digs this year. She needs only six kills to become the third Tiger to record 600 or more in a single season. Sophomore Emily Phillips and Holtze fueled the victory over Texas Lutheran with 12 kills apiece. Colorado College will play host to Johnson & Wales University (Nov. 1) and CSU Pueblo (Nov. 5) to close out the regular season.
The Dallas volleyball team (17-16, 4-10 SCAC) went 1-3 on the week in conference road matches hosted by Austin. On Saturday, in Sherman, Texas, Dallas succumbed 3-1 to Schreiner (22-25, 21-25, 25-20, 21-25), before falling to Southwestern (27-29, 22-25, 22-25) in straight sets. On Sunday, head coach Amy Byfield’s squad trekked to a 3-1 decision over Texas Lutheran (25-16, 25-15, 25-19), but then lost 3-0 to Trinity (19-25, 16-25, 19-25). Having run through their full slate of SCAC-play, Dallas enters the conference championship tournament as the No. 7 seed. The Crusaders will combat No. 2 seed Colorado on Friday, Nov. 8, at 12:30 p.m. in San Antonio.
Schreiner went 2-2 on the week. On Saturday, Schreiner defeated Dallas 3-1 thanks to a 32 dig effort from Jamie Burns, but lost to Colorado College 3-0. On Sunday, the Mountaineers beat Centenary 3-0 and lost to Austin 3-2. Schreiner plays this weekend In Georgetown, Texas with three regional matches vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor, Howard Payne, and East Texas Baptist.
Southwestern went 3-1 in their final conference weekend to close SCAC play at 10-4 on the year. SU opened the weekend against Colorado College and had numerous runs to press the #8 Tigers, but ultimately fell short in straight sets. After a rocky start against the University of Dallas, Southwestern found their stride and won 3-0. A pair of 3-0 wins over Centenary and Austin College on Sunday closed out the conference weekend. Southwestern sits at 22-9 on the year. They close out the regular season by hosting the SCAC/ASC crossover this weekend.
Texas Lutheran volleyball started off its final SCAC weekend of play with a Saturday split, sweeping Centenary and losing to Austin College. In the first match of the day, Texas Lutheran lost a heartbreaker 3-2 to Austin College. The Bulldogs were on the verge of victory against the ‘Roos, leading 14-11 in the final and needing just one point to come away with a win. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Austin College rattled off five straight points to finish off the match. The Bulldogs bounced back from the tough loss to Austin College with a dominant 25-21, 25-15, 25-15 sweep of Centenary. The Texas Lutheran defense was outstanding against Centenary, holding the Ladies to .058 hitting and recording six blocks in the three sets. On offense, the Bulldogs hit .221. On Sunday the Bulldogs were swept in both matches, falling 16-25, 15-25, 19-25 to Dallas and 27-29, 16-25, 12-25 to Colorado College.
No. 19 Trinity clinched the top seed in the SCAC Championships Tournament with a 4-0 record at the SCAC Divisional over the weekend.The Tigers earned 3-0 victories over both Centenary and tournament host Austin College to start the weekend, then scored a huge 3-1 win over eighth-ranked Colorado College to open play on Saturday. Trinity finished with a 3-0 win over Dallas, wrapping up the SCAC portion of the 2013 schedule with a 12-1 conference record. Trinity has now won eight consecutive matches and 20 of its last 21 overall. The Tigers have won three matches over opponents ranked in the top 25 during that time. Three Tiger players also reached career milestones recently. Erin Cusenbary topped 300 career blocks for the Tigers, with nearly half of those coming this season. Maggie Emodi has also eclipsed 1,000 career kills. Maryn Swierc is nearing 600 assists this season, and she crossed the 2,000 assist plateau in the final match of the weekend. Up next for the Tigers will be an extremely tough weekend at the Emory Invitational. The Tigers will face Cortland State and Berry to open play, then will take on a pair of ranked teams to finish the weekend. Trinity takes on 11th-ranked Juniata first, followed by a rematch with sixth-ranked Emory in the tournament finale. Trinity defeated Berry in San Antonio earlier this season, while Emory beat the Tigers 3-1 in Virginia during the second tournament of the year.