RICHARDSON, Texas – The Southwestern University Pirates women's volleyball team upset the No. 23-ranked Pacific Lutheran University Lutes in five sets to open the UT-Dallas Invitational. 

Head Coach Don Flora credited his young team for showing resilience and adaptability as the Pirates recovered from a 1-2 deficit to win sets four and five with 25-14 and 15-12 victories.

"This was a match that shows you team how to play a complete five-set match," Flora said. "We were pleased with the athletes' ability to make some important in-game adjustments for the first time this season."
Southwestern won a tightly-contested first set with 15 ties and five lead changes and took a back-and-forth fifth set that featured three tied scores and two lead changes.

• Three first years finished with double-digit kills for the Pirates, led by Elleanna McGown, who followed up her Southwestern University Fall Invitational All-Tournament performance with 16 kills on a .351 hitting percentage. She also assisted on a block and recorded three aces for a team-high 19.5 points.
  
  Riley Brantley had 15 kills on a .367 hitting percentage to go with three assisted blocks and one solo block. Emma White had 11 kills on a .056 clip and two aces.
  
• Sophomore middle blocker Darby Stowers had 11 kills on a .381 hitting percentage and recorded a solo block.
  
• The Pirate defense tightened with each passing set, giving up a match-high .389 hitting percentage in the first set and holding Pacific Lutheran University to a .043 hitting percentage in the fifth and final set. Ali Grona led the team with 39 receptions and 12 digs.

Southwestern will play Pomona-Pitzer at 3:00 p.m. Tomorrow, the Pirates face No. 10 Aurora at 12:30 p.m. and host UT-Dallas at 3:00 p.m.