Colorado College came from behind to defeat DePauw University 24-26, 25-22, 25-17, 25-18 on Saturday night to win the program's first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference volleyball tournament title.
Senior middle blocker Emily Perkins, the SCAC Player of the Year, had 16 kills, 22 digs and four blocked shots to lead CC. She hit .382 for the match with only three errors on 34 attacks. The double-double was her 13th of the season.
Senior middle blocker Erika Pirotte added 13 kills and 15 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
Junior setter Amy Schornack broke the program's single-season record for assists and become the first to eclipse the 1,200-assist mark, finishing the match with 1,233. She finished the match with 52 assists, 10 digs and eight kills, narrowly missing out on her second triple-double of the season.
Perkins was named MVP of the championship and was joined on the all-tournament team by Pirotte and Schornack.
Sophomore libero Laura Goldsmith became the first player to record more than 600 digs in a single-season, finishing with a match-high 24 to run her season total to 606. Goldsmith now has 12 matches with 20 or more digs, including two with at least 30.
CC knew it was in for a battle when DePauw jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set. The top-seeded Tigers had a two-point lead, but Annie Collier had three of her 13 kills and set up another as the No. 3 seed scored five of the last eight points to grab the first set.
Perkins had seven kills on 14 attacks during the second set, including two of the last three as Colorado College went on a 6-3 run to square the match.
Sarah Schmoker had four consecutive kills to ignite a 7-0 run during the third set as CC turned a two-point deficit into a five-point lead. But after DePauw pulled to within 18-15 on a kill by Katie Petrovich, Colorado College scored seven of the final nine points.
After falling behind early in the fourth set, Schmoker had three kills to ignite a 9-2 run that gave CC its first lead. DePauw tied the game at 11-11 and pulled to within 17-16 on a spike by Paige Thompson, only to see eventual champions close out the match on an 8-2 spurt.
Collier led DU with 13 kills, while Madison Hoenig had a team-high 21 digs.
Colorado College improved to 30-6 and has posted back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time in program history. It was CC's seventh come-from-behind victory this season and the second against DePauw.
The Tigers earned the SCAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament and will make the program's 13-consecutive postseason appearance. The brackets will be announced on Monday, Nov. 8.
