ATLANTA, Ga. - The No. 1 seeded Southwestern University Pirates defeated second seeded Colorado College 3-1 on Saturday evening - earning the Pirates their fourth Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship and first since a co-championship with Trinity University in 2005.
Southwestern won by scores of 25-23, 19-25, 25-15 and 25-23. Southwestern advanced to the championship by beating rival and defending SCAC champion Trinity in the semifinals, by the same 3-1 margin.
By winning the SCAC championship, the Pirates earn the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship. Southwestern, ranked 12th in the nation and winner of 31 consecutive matches, will learn of its national tournament destination on Monday when the brackets are released.
Colorado College, ranked 13th in the nation, advanced to its first SCAC championship by beating third seeded and 24th in the nation DePauw University. The Colorado Tigers won a thriller, topping the Indiana Tigers in five sets, 3-2.
In the championship match, Southwestern was led by SCAC Player-of-the-Year senior Audra Gentry who registered 15 kills. Also chipping in for the Pirates was senior libero and SCAC Backrow Player-of-the-Year Samantha Lingamfelter who tallied 32 digs.
Leading Colorado College was sophomore Meredith Ballard who posted 14 kills, junior Erika Pirotte totaled 22 digs and sophomore Amy Schornack tallied 48 assists.
Southwestern placed three student-athletes on the All-Tournament team. Lingamfelter was named the tournament's MVP while teammates Lindsay Thompson and Christina Nicholls also earned places on the all-touranment team.
Colorado College placed both Emily Perkins and Sarah Schmoker on the all-tournament team. Trinity's Alexis Edwards earned all-tournament honors as did DePauw's Ali Smith.
Trinity, ranked 17th in the nation, earned a sweep of DePauw in the third-place match, 3-0. Fifth seeded Austin College beat Centre in the fifth-place match while the Rhodes College Lynx finished in seventh after beating the host Oglethorpe University Stormy Petrels, 3-1.
Millsaps College earned a ninth-place finish by topping Hendrix College 3-2 and Sewanee: The University of the South finished in 11th place.
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