The Colorado College volleyball team was pushed by Southwestern University in Saturday's first match at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference divisional weekend, but the Tigers punched back and scored a 25-22, 25-27, 25-18, 25-13 victory over the Pirates.

CC improved to 24-2 overall and maintained its hold on first place in the SCAC with an 11-0 mark. Third-place Southwestern dropped to 15-10 overall and 8-5 in the conference.

Haley Harris led the Tigers with a season-best 17 kills and completed her 25th career double-double with 13 digs.

Lizzy Counts flirted with a triple-double and finished the match with 51 assists, a career-high 24 digs and seven kills.

Anna Gurolnick recorded a season-best 22 digs, the 21st match of her career with 20 or more.

The Pirates played with confidence during the first set and built a 16-11 lead. Colorado College answered with a 7-2 surge to level the score at 18 apiece, and after SU's Landry Brown tied the set at 20-20, a kill from Allie Freeburg triggered a 3-0 run for the Tigers.

Southwestern pulled to with a point when Riley Brantley and Emma White combined for a blocked shot, but back-to-back kills from Harris gave CC the first set.

Colorado College overcame an early 11-6 deficit to build a 24-21 lead, however the Pirates won six of the final seven points to level the match at one set apiece.

The Tigers held a series of three-point leads early in the third set, only to see SU close to within a point at 14-13. Colorado College scored four straight points to build a five-point gap on a kill from Georgia Mullins. After the Pirates pulled to within 18-16, CC closed out the set with a 7-2 run.

That momentum carried over to the fourth set as the Tigers opened an early 6-1 lead on Laney Swan's second kill. Harris put down three kills to ignite a 12-3 run that gave Colorado College an 18-6 lead and CC never looked back.
 
Colorado College Standouts
Georgia Mullins hit .414 with 14 kills on 29 swings with just two errors.
Emma Hewlin finished with eight kills on 22 attempts with only one misfire.
 
Southwestern Standouts
Emma White led the Pirates with nine kills and added 13 digs.
Lauren Crabtree finished with seven kills and 19 digs.
Ali Grona led the Pirates with 21 digs.
 
Next for the Tigers
Colorado College closes out its four-match trip to Texas against weekend host University of Dallas at 2 p.m. CT.