SUWANEE, Ga. - The 20th season of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference volleyball began the week of August 30-Sept. 5 and saw five teams come away with undefeated records. Fifth-ranked Colorado College, Austin College, Millsaps, Birmingham-Southern and Oglethorpe combined for a 19-0 record in week one.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College opened the season strong, winning their first five matches to begin the season with a perfect 5-0 record including going 4-0 at the Averett University Tournament over the weekend. The ‘Roos have won four of their first five matches by 3-0 margins. The ‘Roos kicked off the week with a 3-0 win over UT-Tyler at home and then topped Guilford 3-2 to open up the Averett Tournament. AC then topped host team Averett 3-0 and completed the weekend sweep by beating Bridgewater 3-0 and Greensboro 3-0. Jessica Fleming had a huge week for Austin College, averaging 4.06 kills-per-set with a .452 attack percentage and Jordan Anderton took home MVP honors at the Averett Tournament after averaging 11.59 assists-per-set for the week. The ‘Roos are back in Sherman this weekend when they host the 15^th Annual Austin College Classic.
  
Birmingham-Southern opened the season at home, hosting the Hilltop Classic and winning all four matches to win the Classic and open the year with a 4-0 record. The Panthers defeated Mississippi College, Berry College, Piedmont College, and Huntingdon College. Senior setter Christine Denning and sophomore middle blocker Shelby Moore were both named to the All-Tournament Team.

No. 5 Colorado College opened the 2010 season with five consecutive victories, extended its home winning streak to 32 matches and won the Molten Volleyball Pikes Peak Challenge with victories over Carleton (3-0), La Verne (3-2), Illinois Wesleyan (3-0) and Otterbein (3-0). The title came down to Saturday’s tournament finale against Otterbein and the Tigers dominated from the start. All five attackers in the starting lineup had at least four kills, led by junior outside hitter Sarah Schmoker with nine. Junior opposite hitter Meredith Ballard, whom the opposing coaches voted tournament MVP, senior middle blocker Erika Pirotte and sophomore outside hitter Kate Squires finished with six apiece. Colorado College returns to action next weekend when the Tigers play host to the 2010 Molten Volleyball CC Invitational. 

DePauw posted a 2-3 record in the opening week of volleyball play as it defeated Marian (Ind.) 3-2 in the season opener and finished with a 1-3 record at the Washington University Classic. The Tigers defeated Fontbonne but suffered losses to Simpson, Wisconsin-Platteville and top-ranked Washington (Mo.). Katie Petrovich led DePauw with 2.1 kills per set for the week, while Ali Smith led the way with 8.6 assists. Kylee Lehrman recorded 10 service aces with Maggie Pajakowski averaging 4.1 digs and Kristen Chynoweth 0.8 blocks.
  
Hendrix got its 2010 season rolling with an impressive 4-1 record last week. The Warriors opened the season at home with a 3-0 win over Central Baptist College on Wednesday, before taking a 3-1 record away from the University of Dallas Invitational on Friday and Saturday. Hendrix earned a 3-0 win over Sul Ross State and a 3-2 win over Mary Hardin-Baylor in day one of the tournament, and then suffered a hard-fought 3-0 loss to host Dallas before sweeping East Texas Baptist, 3-0, in the final match of the weekend. Hendrix seniors Becca Clancy and Leah Groat combined for 16 kills to pace the Warriors to a 3-0 season opening win against CBC in front of a packed house at Grove Gymnasium on Wednesday night. The Warriors were challenged in their second contest of the day against Mary Hardin-Baylor as they dropped the first game, 15-25, and third game, 24-26.  Hendrix won the second and third games, 25-11 and 25-14, respectively, and then earned the final result with a 15-11 game five win.

Millsaps is off to a 5-0 start this season thanks to an opening 3-1 win over rival Mississippi College and four straight wins over the weekend in the Millsaps Invitational. The Majors defeated Faulkner University 3-1 and Martin Methodist College 3-2 on Saturday before taking Schreiner University 3-0 and Loyola of New Orleans 3-1 on Sunday. Millsaps used a balanced attack and a solid defense to remain unbeaten. Kasey Laird led the way offensively in the weekend’s games with 56 points in four matches. The Majors will return to the court Tuesday night as they host the Belhaven Blazers for a single match at 7:00 p.m. in the Hangar Dome.

Oglethorpe began its season by sweeping Andrew College, 3-0. The Petrels left little doubt in this contest by dominating points early and often in cruising to the victory. Oglethorpe captured the first set, 25-13, claimed the second, 25-19 and earned the third by the count of 25-12. The victory was highlighted by the outstanding play of freshmen outside hitters Samantha Lynn and Laura Landry who combined for 21 kills on the night. Landry posted a .500 hitting percentage on the night while Lynn netted a .444. Senior outside hitter Sara Blair recorded 10 digs and posted two service aces on the night and sophomore setter Brittin Dawson tallied a team-high 26 assists.

Rhodes defeated Huntingdon by the scores of 26-24, 21-25, 25-15, 22-25, 15-13. Junior Outside Hitter Claire Warren led all attackers with 16 kills while Sophomore Outside Hitter Meagan Mansfield chipped in 12 of her own. Libero Kayla McCrury anchored the team's defense with 22 digs while Middle Blocker Claire Cordua led the team with 3 blocks. Against Piedmont, Rhodes lost the first two sets by the scores of 16-25 and 18-25. The Lynx took set three 25-22 before dropping the fourth set by the score of 21-25. Right Side attackers Phylicia Douglas and Lexie Krall combined for 14 kills while Krall led the team with 4 blocks. 

Sewanee first year head coach Jessica Cortese and the Tigers started off the week by falling to Maryville (Tenn.) 0-3 Wednesday night. Liz Boddiford paced the Tiger effort with four kills and nine digs on the night. Sewanee traveled to Birmingham over the weekend, where they dropped four matches to fall to 0-5 on the season. In their first match of the weekend, the Tigers fell to Rust College in four games. Boddiford led the Tigers with nine kills and Kim Conkell contributed eight. Erin Brahm chipped in 18 assists, three assists, and nine digs. The Tigers fell to Mississippi College in the second match of the day, 0-3. Boddiford added ten digs in the effort. On Sunday, the Tigers lost in straight sets to Huntingdon College and Berry.

No. 14 Southwestern started off strong and wasted no time taking on top competition. They opened the season at home on September 1 against the University of Mary Hardin Baylor and Schreiner University. After a close game in the first match against UMHB the Pirates quickly turned up the pressure and won easily, defeating each opponent 3-0. Their first game was against #3 Emory and Southwestern played well but fell short in the end as they lost in five games. The Pirates played well and dropped just one match, winning 3-1 over Maryville.

No. 22 Trinity opened up the season with a win at Texas Lutheran, prior to going 2-2 at the Trinity University River City Classic over the weekend. Trinity defeated Texas Lutheran 3-1 to start its season on Wednesday night, then returned home for a two-day tournament.  The Tigers scored thrilling comeback wins against McMurry and Hardin-Simmons on Friday, erasing a 2-0 deficit in both matches.  On Saturday, Trinity was then swept by both UMass-Boston and Whitworth to finish off the tournament. The Tigers return to action on Wednesday, hosting Schreiner University for a single match.  This weekend, Trinity hosts another home tournament – the Trinity University Fall Classic.  Playing in this weekend’s tournament will be Pacific (Ore.) University, Christopher Newport University, East Texas Baptist University, and the University of Puget Sound.

For the complete SCAC Spikes Weekly for Week 1, click here.