LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The 17th-ranked Colorado College volleyball team helped Rick Swan celebrate his 500th match as head coach with four victories that produced a championship at the Tigers' own season-opening CC Invitational at Reid Arena.
AROUND THE SCAC
The Austin College volleyball team started the
season splitting its four matches at the Averett Cougar Classic
over the weekend, falling to William Peace and Averett on the first
day before rebounding with a pair of wins over Roanoke and
Methodist on Sunday. The ‘Roos fell 3-1 in both matches on
day one before beating Roanoke in five sets and Methodist 3-0.
Shelby Eaves averaged 5.19 kills with a .260 hitting percentage and
added 2.25 digs per set on her way to being named to the
All-Tournament team, and Kelsey Klingler averaged 9.81 assists per
set in the four matches. Alyson Hicks added 2.38 kills with a .269
hitting percentage and Bekah Newberry averaged 2.31 kills for the
weekend. Reygan Holloman had 15 total blocks to lead the
‘Roos, and Rachel Fusselman averaged 3.69 digs per set.
The Centenary volleyball team opened the 2013
campaign with a 3-2 win over Lyon rallying from two sets down to
capture the match. The match was one of two, five-setters for the
Ladies (1-3) on the weekend. Sarah Sumner and Sarah Irons led the
squad with 35 kills each over the two-day tournament while Brooke
Bahlinger added 24 kills – third most on the team. Bahlinger
also tallied a team-best 41 digs in a defensive performance. Beth
Nuttall paced the squad with 110 assists, including a career-high
32 against Belhaven – besting her previous mark of 31 (v.
LeTourneau) one year to date. Rachel Perkins supplied 39 digs to
finish second on the team for the tournament. Centenary
returns to action on Friday, Sept. 6 at the UT-Tyler Invite. The
Ladies open with the host Patriots at Noon and face Mary
Hardin-Baylor at 4 p.m. The Maroon and White close out the two-day
event with matches against Howard Payne (Noon) and East Texas
Baptist (4 p.m.) on Saturday.
No. 17 Colorado College helped Rick Swan
celebrate his 500th match as head coach with four victories on that
produced a championship at its own season-opening CC Invitational
at Reid Arena. The No. 17-ranked Tigers rallied to beat previously
undefeated Augsburg College, 3-2 (20-25, 27-25, 19-25, 25-16,
15-11) in their first match on Saturday, and then clinched the
tournament title with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-19) triumph over
Pacific University. Sophomore outside hitter Emily Phillips and
freshman outside hitter Abbe Holtze each posted a double-double
against the Auggies. Phillips finished with 18 kills and 15 digs,
while Holtze was just behind with 17 kills and 11 digs. Holtze hit
.394 with just four errors on 33 attempts in that match. Sophomore
setter Devon Lucero, who led the Tigers to a .232 team hitting
percentage, was voted tournament MVP by the opposing coaches.
Lucero had a hand on a team-high 13 blocks, five of which occurred
in the come-from-behind victory over Augsburg, and added 35 digs.
Phillips and Holtze also were named to the all-tournament squad.
Sophomore libero Sophie Merrifield recorded 73 digs for an average
of 5.21 per set. The Tigers will play host to the Molten Volleyball
CC Classic next Friday and Saturday.
Dallas opened its 2013 season as hosts of the
Dallas Volleyball Invitational. On Friday in Irving, Texas, the
Crusaders fell 3-0 (11-25, 28-30, 23-25) to the University of
Wisconsin-Superior (UWS) before defeating Millsaps College in four
sets (11-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-20). First-year head coach Amy
Byfield and Dallas had two more matches ahead. On Saturday, the
squad was bested 3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-19, 11-15) by UWS,
but then upended Sul Ross State University in three sets (25-21,
25-16, 25-14) to end the invitational with a split and a 2-2 mark
to open the season. On the docket this week for Dallas are four
matches in the Austin College Invitational -- Southwestern
Assemblies of God University (Friday, 6 p.m.), Concordia University
(Friday, 8 p.m.), Wheaton College-Ill. (Saturday, 1 p.m.) and
Bacone College-Okla. (Saturday, 3 p.m.).
Schreiner started its 2013 campaign this past
weekend with a loss. On Friday, Schreiner traveled to Our Lady of
the Lake University. Our Lady of the Lake won all three sets
25-23, 25-16, and 25-13 to win the match, 3-0. Schreiner will
travel to California this weekend to take on Occidental, Redlands,
UC Santa Cruz, and Pomona-Pitzer.
Southwestern opened the weekend in Belton, facing
some of the top American Southwest Conference school to start the
season. SU won their first match against East Texas Baptist in five
games before falling to host school Mary Hardin Baylor in five
sets. The Pirates rebounded with a sweep on Saturday, defeating UT
Dallas 3-2 and Hardin Simmons 3-1. Southwestern remains on the road
as the head to Sherman, Texas to compete against Southwestern
Assemblies of God, Beacon College, Wheaton (Ill.) and Sul Ross
State.
The Texas Lutheran volleyball squad opened up its
season by dropping a heartbreaker in the season-opener, falling 3-1
(25-14, 24-26, 23-25, 24-26) to Concordia Texas. It looks like the
Texas Lutheran volleyball program needed just a day to knock off
some of the preseason rust, finishing off the second day of the
Bulldog Classic with a pair of wins over Texas Tyler and St.
Joseph's (Long Island) on Susan Duke Court at Tostengard Activity
Center on Saturday. The Bulldogs were the only team in the
five-team tournament to knock off Texas Tyler, defeating the
Patriots 27-29, 25-19, 25-22, 25-20. TLU wrapped up the tournament
with a clean 25-13, 28-26, 25-15 sweep of St. Joseph's (Long
Island).
Trinity opened its season with a 3-1 record at
the UMHB Invitational over the weekend, falling only to hosting
Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers earned a
pair of 3-1 wins over Hardin-Simmons University and the University
of Texas-Dallas to start the 2013 season on Friday, then after
falling to UMHB, Trinity finished with a 3-0 sweep of East Texas
Baptist University. The Tigers are back on the road this weekend,
playing in the Randolph-Macon Invitational on Friday and Saturday,
then squaring off against the hosts on Sunday afternoon.
Trinity will face Maryville (TN) University and Virginia Wesleyan
on day one, then will meet Averett University and Emory University
to finish the tournament.
To view the entire SCAC Spike Weekly for week
one, click here.