(Story taken from the Southwestern University website)
GEORGETOWN, Texas – The Southwestern University women’s volleyball team advanced to the regional finals by out hustling the Maryville Scots on Friday night to win 3-0. The regional final match, beginning at 7p.m., will be an all SCAC affair as the Pirates take on conference rival Trinity.
Throughout game one SU inched their way through the match,
slowly gaining ground and found themselves up 13-8 halfway through
the set, forcing Maryville into a timeout.
The teams traded points before the Scots put together a run,
pulling within four before the Pirates turned it back on, spreading
around the kills, to go up 22-15.
Maryville took another timeout, attempting to stop the run, but a
miss-hit put Southwestern up 23-15 and after a sideout first-year
Rachel Thibodeau drilled a kill off the Scot block and sent another
back into their side to close game one out 25-16.
The Pirates opened game two with four straight points, building
some padding from which to build for the remainder of the match.
Maryville could never pull closer than two points and Southwestern
lead by as many as six when sophomore Lindsay Thompson blocked one
back to the Scots, putting SU up 15-9.
At 22-16 a mishit that sailed beyond the endline by Maryville gave
the Pirates a 23-16 lead, forcing the Scots into their final
timeout of the set, hoping to keep the game from closing out. SU
would have none of that as Thompson’s kill closed out the set
25-18 giving the Pirates a two game lead.
Maryville would not be pushed aside as they started the third set
with three straight points and lead by as many as four, 9-5, but
the Pirates were able to chip away at the lead and pulled even
9-9.
A series of uncharacteristic hitting errors by Southwestern gave
the Scots a three-point lead once again 16-13.
Coach Hanna Long’s timeout helped regroup the Pirates and
started a rally that tied the score once again, 16-16, and then
sophomore Taylor Wright placed her attack just inside the endline
to give Southwestern the lead once again.
Teams traded points with SU taking a one point lead on
Maryville’s serves and the Scots pulling even on the return
serve until the Pirates broke the trend taking a crucial 21-19 lead
late in the game.
With the set and match within their reach the Pirates powered
through to the end and sealed the victory on a block by Thompson
for the 25-21 set victory and 3-0 match win.
The Pirates advance to the NCAA South Regional Finals Saturday
night to face conference rival Trinity for a trip to the Elite
Eight in Cleveland. Game time is set for 7:00 pm.
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