Crusaders Split A Pair of Thrillers on Saturday at Conference Cross-Divisional
SHERMAN, Texas – A pair of thrilling five-set games began the final weekend of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) play. The University of Dallas (14-17, 7-8 SCAC) rallied down 2-1 sets to pick up an important league win over Texas Lutheran University (17-14, 8-8 SCAC), which snapped a seven-game losing streak dating to 2016.
The second match of the day ended up going five sets giving the Crusaders three straight games to go that distance, and would be unable to pull off the victory against Johnson & Wales University-Denver (3-26, 1-14 SCAC). The final four matches went beyond the regulated points required to win a set.
MATCH 1 VS. TEXAS LUTHERAN
Scores
Set 1: 25-19
Set 2: 23-25
Set 3: 25-22
Set 4: 17-25
Set 5: 12-15
These teams were evenly matched in both games this season, as these teams finished with 80 points each on Saturday. In the first meeting that Texas Lutheran prevailed in four sets, each side had exactly 60 points.
In the opening set, the Crusaders battled to a 20-19 deficit but allowed the next five points to fall behind. Down 10-7 in the second set, UD responded with five straight points of its own to go up the remainder of the way. Kills by Larissa Ramirez (San Antonio, Texas), Anna Stevenson (Dallas, Texas), and Isabel Garcia (San Antonio, Texas) featured in that run. The Crusaders led by as many as four the rest of the way, but TLU scored three in a row to tie things at 22. Dallas took three of the final four points including two straight. Garcia served an ace and Dayjah Whyte (Round Rock, Texas) put down a kill for the final UD points.
The third set was a back-and-forth battle, with Ellise Anable (Phoenix, Ariz.) getting a kill to bring the score to 23-22. The Bulldogs were credited points on UD miscues though and grabbed a 2-1 set lead. UD forced a fifth set thanks to an eruptive 10-2 start in the fourth set that gave it control. Despite Texas Lutheran using a big run to cut the margin to 20-17, the Crusaders scored the final five points.
In the deciding set, each side traded points through the first eight serves before the Bulldogs produced their biggest lead of the frame with three unanswered. The Crusaders ended the match on a 9-3 run after allowing TLU to be the first to reach eight points.
Dallas had a trio of players reach double-digits for kills led by Whyte with 15. She added five blocks with two on solo blocks. Stevenson followed with 13 kills and a personal-best six block assists to go with the other pair of solo blocks for UD. The Crusaders totaled a season-high 13 blocks thanks to 18 block assists. It was the third match this season that UD eclipsed double-digits on total blocks.
Garcia rounded out the trio unit with double figures for kills with 12 and grabbed a double-double with 10 digs. Ramirez managed 45 assists and 23 digs for the other double-double.
Krystyn Pua (Escondido, Calif.) had a game-high 29 digs, as Ramirez and Anable created group of three with 20 or more digs. Abigail Porras (El Paso, Texas) added seven kills and 18 digs, while Garcia finished off a quintet of players contributing double-digit numbers to the Crusaders' season-most (at the time) 117 digs. The previous season-high in digs was 110 versus Austin College on September 17. Dallas is 3-1 in matches it surpasses the century mark, with all of the games going five sets.
TLU was led by Paige Day and Jaci Chambers with 12 kills apiece. Kacie Hall added 11, while Kelsi Menn posted nine. Seven different Bulldogs garnered at least six kills. Chambers added a team-high 28 digs, and Day collected 19 for double-doubles in those categories. Setter Kelly Jurden went for a double-double in sets (26) and digs (15). Menn led the block with eight to tie Stevenson on block assists (6) and solo blocks (2).
MATCH 2 VS. JOHNSON & WALES (CO)
Scores
Set 1: 25-18
Set 2: 26-24
Set 3: 24-26
Set 4: 24-26
Set 5: 16-18
It was another match the squads played even in points with 83. In addition, both sides logged 70 kills and 16 block assists. Dallas had one more assist (66-65), while the Wildcats had one more service ace (5-4). Teams combined for 265 digs.
The first set was the only one to not finish within two points, as Dallas utilized a 7-2 run to go up by five. Another surge placed UD on top by its largest lead of the night, seven (18-11). After Johnson & Wales sliced into the deficit and eventually got it to 20-18, the Crusaders rattled off the final five points with Whyte on serve for them.
In the second set, Dallas trailed as many as six (17-11) and clawed back with a run of 12 out of the next 17 points to make it 24-22. After the Wildcats answered with two points, Dallas went up two sets thanks to a JWU attack error and service ace by Bonnie Baldwin (North Salem, N.Y.).
The next two sets went in favor of JWU by the same 26-24 score. Both were seesaw battles. Kills by Stevenson and Ramirez, who had a personal-best six, gave Dallas the 24-23 lead, but kills by Brooke Paxton and Hunter Halbower swung the momentum and the duo came up with a big block to stay alive. In the fourth set, the Wildcats responded to a 23-22 deficit with a 4-1 run.
The determining set went JWU's way as it was the first to eight points out of 13. The Crusaders mustered six-of-seven points to go up 11-9. Savannah Walker (San Antonio, Texas) picked up an ace and a block assist by Garcia and Andriella Wagner (Round Rock, Texas) on the last point of that run. Teams traded two points and the Wildcats advanced to a 14-13 edge. Dallas had two chances to put the match away, but a trio of kills by Ashlee Ruehs, Paxton, and Halbower sealed the final.
Two players within a quartet of Crusaders in double-digits for kills also recorded a double-double. Porras earned a team-high 17 kills with 11 digs, while Garcia tossed in 10 kills and 17 digs. Whyte and Stevenson contributed 16 and 15 kills, respectively. Anable, who shifted to libero in the last set, managed a career-high 36 digs. Baldwin also notched a personal-best in that column with 29 after serving in the libero position for the first four sets. Six players were in double figures, as the team easily shattered a season-high 145 digs and was the fifth match this season the Crusaders broke 100 in digs.
Ramirez gave her eighth performance with at least 40 assists and fourth to eclipse her game-total of 48. The freshman setter also had 20 digs for another double-double in those stats. Stephanie Janysek (Sinton, Texas) chipped in 10 assists. Garcia led the block by tying a season-high four, while Whyte, Stevenson, Wagner, and Rachel Firm (Hesperia, Calif.) had three.
Johnson & Wales also had a quartet of players in double figures for kills. Hope Hines and Paxton tied game-highs for kills with 20 apiece and added a double-double in digs with 30 and 26, respectively. Ruehs and Halbower added 13 and 11 kills in respective order. Halbower logged five block assists, while Paxton, Teagan Gutka, and Ruehs had multiple block assists that helped the team generate eight total blocks. Jacquelyn Ortiz put up 61 assists.
UP NEXT
Dallas finishes the weekend off with another pair of SCAC games tomorrow starting with No. 9 Trinity University at 12 p.m. and then University of St. Thomas at 6 p.m.