SUWANEE, Ga. - Southwestern extended its winning streak to eight matches thanks to a 5-0 mark during the week of Sept. 26-Oct. 2. The Pirates beat Schreiner in non-conference action before winning four matches at the SCAC Central-West Divisional at Rhodes over the weekend.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College split its four matches at the SCAC West/Central over the weekend, topping Rhodes 3-2 before falling 3-0 to Colorado College on Saturday, and then best Hendrix 3-0 before dropping a 3-1 match to Millsaps to finish the weekend on Sunday. The ‘Roos are now 13-8 overall and 4-3 in conference play. Jessi Fleming had 17 kills with only two hitting errors and five total blocks in win over Rhodes and added 10 more kills in the team’s loss to Colorado College. Fleming continued her strong play on Sunday with 19 kills in the win over Hendrix to start the day and 16 more kills in the loss to Millsaps. For the weekend, Fleming averaged 4.13 kills per set with a .405 hitting percentage.
Birmingham-Southern returned home this week to
host the SCAC East Interdivisional and went a perfect 3-0, winning
all three matches in three sets. On Saturday, they defeated Centre
and Sewanee, and beat Oglethorpe on Sunday. Junior middle blocker
Shelby Moore had a stellar weekend, hitting almost .600 with 42
kills, and breaking the single-match attack percentage record on
Sunday with 16 kills and no errors on 20 attempts for an .800
average. The Panthers are at home again on Wednesday to face
Covenant College before traveling to San Antonio this weekend for
the SCAC West/East Divisional, where they will face Trinity,
Dallas, Austin, and Southwestern.
Centre played at home against in-state rival Spalding on
Wednesday and then in the Eastern Division inter-pod hosted by
Birmingham Southern over the weekend. The Colonels went 4-1
during the week, beating Spalding at home in 3 games, followed by a
three game loss to BSC and a three game win to Oglethorpe on
Saturday, and finally a four game win over Sewanee on
Sunday. Next up for the Colonels will be a series of away
matches starting with a trip to rival Transylvania University on
Tuesday before packing their bags and heading to San Antonio to
compete in the East/West divisional hosted by Trinity on
Saturday and Sunday.
No. 13 Colorado College went 4-1 on the road this past
week. The Tigers beat Union University in extra sets during a
midweek game, 3-2. CC wrapped up the week in Memphis, Tenn. for the
SCAC Central/West Crossover. The Tigers’ only loss of the
week came against No. 9 Southwestern (3-0) in the opening game of
the crossover. CC improved over the weekend with wins over Austin
College (3-0), the University of Dallas (3-1) and Trinity (3-0).
Senior Amy Schornack ran the offense for the Tigers, dishing out
180 assists during the week to average 36 assists a game. Senior
Hannah Varnell led the team on defense with 106 digs to average
21.2 digs a game. Colorado College returns home this week as it
hosts the SCAC Central Intra-Pod tournament on Oct. 8-9.
Dallas broke a seven match losing streak with a 3-2 win
at Rhodes on the final day of the SCAC Central/West divisional. The
Lady Crusaders went 1-4 on the week and now sit at 7-12 overall and
1-6 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play. Dallas dropped
a 3-0 decision to Southwest Assemblies of God before Millsaps
(3-0), Hendrix (3-0) and 14th-ranked Colorado College (3-1). The
Lady Crusaders then finished the week with their first-ever SCAC
win. Dallas returns to action on Oct. 6 when Arlington Baptist and
Rust come to town for a tri-match. The Lady Crusaders then travel
to Trinity to continue SCAC play over the weekend.
Hendrix went 2-2 at the SCAC Central/West
Divisional Tournament in Memphis. On Saturday, Hendrix swept
Trinity, the first win in program history against the Tigers.
Freshman outside hitter Kylee Spicer had 14 kills and hit .464 and
sophomore Katie Burchfield set a career-high with five aces. In a
sweep against Dallas, junior Melissa Clement hit .538 with 17 kills
and senior Jennifer Youngblood recorded 15 digs. On Sunday, Hendrix
lost to Austin in three sets. Freshman Ella Concavage-Nasar led the
defense with 14 digs. Against No. 9 Southwestern, Spicer hit .324
with 16 kills in a three-game loss. Sophomore setter Zoe Calhoun
had 29 assists and 11 digs. The Warriors are now 5-3 in SCAC play,
tying the most conference wins in program history set in 2005.
Hendrix will play at Rust College on Tuesday, then at the SCAC
Central Divisional at Colorado College on Saturday and
Sunday.
Millsaps split this weekend at the SCAC Central/West
Divisional. They began with a sweep of the University of Dallas
thanks to a great day from junior Kasey Laird, finishing with 14
kills. The Majors then dropped highly contested games to No. 9
Southwestern and Trinity in four sets which included two more big
days for Laird. The Majors finished things off with a win as they
knocked off Austin College in four sets. Laird, junior Mackenzie
Westphal, and sophomore Caroline May all finished with double digit
kills. The Majors travel to Colorado College next week for the SCAC
Central Divisional.
Oglethorpe went 1-2 at the SCAC East divisional at
Birmingham-Southern. The Stormy Petrels beat Sewanee in a five-set
thriller before dropping matches to Centre and Birmingham-Southern
by identical 3-0 scores. Oglethorpe is now 5-14 overall and 2-5 in
SCAC play. The Petrels host Piedmont Thursday before traveling to
Birmingham-Southern for the SCAC East-Interpod matches.
Rhodes went 0-4 at this weekend's SCAC
Central/West divisional. The team lost three of their four matches
in five sets again this weekend including a five set thriller with
Southwestern where Libero Maraia Tremarelli led the Lynx with 46
digs and Claire Warren led team with 20 kills. In the yet
another thrilling five set loss to Dallas, Warren led the Lynx with
19 kills.
Sewanee dropped all three matches last week at the SCAC
East Interpod matches at Birmingham-Southern. The Tigers fell to
Oglethorpe on Saturday, 3-2 and then dropped a 3-0 match to the
host Panthers and finished the weekend with a 3-1 loss to Centre.
Sewanee is now 4-13 overall and 0-7 in the SCAC. The Tigers travel
to Trinity for this weekend’s SCAC East/West divisional
tournament.
No. 9 Southwestern continued its impressive play with
four wins at the SCAC West/Central Divisional #1 over the weekend
in Memphis, Tenn. The wins improve the Pirates to 17-2 on the year
and 7-0 in the SCAC. SU opened the weekend with #14 Colorado
College and the NCAA Division III featured game didn't disappoint
as the two teams battled through three sets. The Pirates emerged
triumphant in three long sets, winning 28-26, 35-33, 25-21.
Southwestern's balanced attack kept the Tigers on their toes as
five of eight Pirates recorded eight or more kills. SU rode the
momentum to a 3-1 win over Millsaps in their second game of the
day, using their deep bench to their advantage after the prolonged
earlier match. The second day pitted Southwestern first against
host-institution Rhodes. The Lynx came out strong, challenging SU,
but the Pirates earned the win in the fifth set by hitting nearly
.300 as a team after struggling in the earlier sets. Southwestern
ended the weekend on a high note, easily defeating Hendrix 3-0. The
Pirates return to San Antonio for the third time this season, this
time for the SCAC West/East Divisional #1.
Trinity went 2-2 at the SCAC Central-West Divisional last
weekend, scoring wins over Rhodes and Millsaps, but falling to
Hendrix and 14th-ranked Colorado College. The Tigers opened with a
loss to Hendrix, marking the first time Trinity had ever lost to
the Warriors. Trinity rebounded with wins over Rhodes on Saturday
and Millsaps on Sunday morning, but could not continue the momentum
against defending conference champions Colorado. Trinity will host
the SCAC West-East Divisional this weekend, facing off against
Birmingham-Southern and Centre on Saturday, and Sewanee and
Oglethorpe on Sunday. It will be the final home tournament of
the season for the Tigers, though they will host two more single
matches at Trinity this season.
For the complete SCAC Spikes Weekly for Week 5,
click here.
