SUWANEE, Ga. - With the regular season complete, attention now shifts to the 2011 SCAC Volleyball Championship tournament November 4-5 at Millsaps. Twelve SCAC teams will vie for the league's automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship. Colorado College looks to defend its 2010 title.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College went 4-0 over the weekend, topping Clarkson, Concordia-Texas, Texas Wesleyan and East Texas Baptist at the Southwestern Invitational to finish the regular season with a record of 24-11 as they head into the SCAC Tournament as the three seed. The ‘Roos opened with a 3-1 win over Clarkson and a 3-0 win over Concordia on Friday before topping TWU 3-1 and ETBU 3-0 on Saturday. Jessica Fleming had a huge weekend for the ‘Roos, averaging 4.93 kills and 2.07 blocks per set with a .429 hitting percentage and Adrienne Reynolds added 8.07 digs per set to lead the ‘Roos defensively. Shelby Eaves added 3.14 kills and 4.50 digs per set and Kelly McDaniel had a strong weekend not only from her position as setter but also defensively, where she averaged 1.79 digs and 1.36 blocks per set. The ‘Roos head to Jackson for the SCAC Tournament, where they will enjoy a first round bye and await the winner of Millsaps and Oglethorpe.

Birmingham-Southern wrapped up regular season play at home, hosting the BSC Fall Invitational this weekend. On Saturday, BSC went 2-0 with wins against Susquehanna & Berry, both by the score of 3-0. The Panthers then split on Sunday with a 3-0 win against Fisk & a 3-0 loss to 19th-ranked (NAIA) Spring Hill. The Panthers celebrated Senior Night prior to the match against Spring Hill, honoring seniors Hope Harris, Alessandra Norman, and Alaina Smith, as well as junior Chelsea Pittman, who will be leaving BSC after this season. Smith and junior setter Lauren Reibe were both named to the All-Tournament Team of the Invitational. The Panthers are back in action this weekend at the SCAC Volleyball Championship, playing as the fourth seed and taking on either Trinity or Sewanee on Friday after getting a first-round bye. It will be the first-ever post-season appearance for BSC in the Division III era after a four-year transitional period with no post-season play.

Centre hosted its annual Halloween Bash on Saturday hosting Piedmont College and Cumberland University. The Colonels came away with two wins, improving their overall record to 17-16. In the first match of the day Centre was able to beat Piedmont in four games and then downed Cumberland in three straight. The Colonels are riding a four match win streak now heading into the conference tournament this Friday and Saturday hosted by Millsaps. Centre will start the tournament as the seventh seed and will face the tenth seed, Rhodes, at 12:15 p.m. on Friday.

No. 13 Colorado College (28-5 overall, 13-1 SCAC) had the week off. The Tigers look to extend their 14 match win streak on Tuesday, November 1st when they host Colorado State-Pueblo at 7 p.m. in their final regular season contest. Colorado College will then travel to Jackson, Miss. and compete in the SCAC Volleyball Championship. The Tigers enter the tournament as the #2 seed and earned a first round bye. The Tigers await the winner of the # 7Centre vs. #10 Rhodes match at 7 p.m. CT on Friday. Colorado College will look to defend its SCAC championship.

Dallas (17-18, 4-10) concluded its regular season by playing three matches on the week in Prescott, Ariz., at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. On Friday, the Lady Crusaders defeated Johnson & Wales University (Colo.) in three sets. While on Sunday, Dallas fell to Embry-Riddle in four sets and lost to California State San Marcos in three sets. Dallas will face Hendrix as the No. 9 seed in the SCAC Volleyball Tournament on Friday, Nov. 4.

Hendrix went 1-1 in the final week of the regular season. On Thursday, they were swept on the road by Division II Arkansas-Monticello. Junior Melissa Clement had eight kills and junior Katie Bates had five kills and hit .556. Hendrix won their final home match of the year in four sets against Bacone on Saturday. Clement paced the Warriors with 16 kills. Freshman middle blocker Carson Hunter tied her season-best with nine kills and Bates also had nine. Sophomores Alyssa Jaksich and Jordyn Spennato chipped in eight kills each. Sophomore setter Zoe Calhoun recorded 40 assists. Freshman libero Ella Concavage-Nasar led all players with 20 digs, while Spennato had a season-high 19 and senior Jennifer Youngblood came up with 11. The eighth-seeded Warriors will open the SCAC Tournament on Friday against #9 Dallas.

Millsaps achieved a milestone this past weekend at the Millsaps Tournament as they became the first team since the 2004 team to accomplish 20 wins in the regular season. The Majors played great volleyball all weekend as they went 4-0 in their tune up before the SCAC Tournament in Jackson. Millsaps beat Centenary (La.) (3-0), Howard Payne (3-0), Mary Hardin-Baylor (3-1) and LeTourneau (3-0). Millsaps returns to action as they host the SCAC tournament. The Majors, who are the six seed, begin things against No. 11 Oglethorpe at 12:15 p.m. The winner will take on No. 3 Austin College at 4:45 p.m. while the loser battles the loser of Centre/Rhodes.

Oglethorpe concluded regular season play this past week by splitting two nonconference matchups. The Petrels topped Huntingdon (W, 3-0) on Tuesday and fell to Piedmont (L, 3-0) on Thursday. On Tuesday Oglethorpe jumped on the Hawks at the outset and were leading on the scoreboard throughout the evening. After the triumph over Huntingdon the Petrels had won 3 of their past 5 and were 7-9 in their last 16 matches, showing the vast improvement of this young and talented squad. Piedmont celebrated their Senior Night on Thursday and swept away Oglethorpe to cap the season. The Petrels finish 8-22 overall and will travel to Jackson, Miss. to compete in the SCAC Tournament this weekend. First up is a match against Millsaps this Friday at 1:15 p.m. Eastern.

Rhodes finished 3-1 at this weekend's Spookfest in which the team honored seniors Claire Warren and Olivia Wells. The team defeated Mississippi College in their opening match with outside hitters Warren and Meagan Mansfield combining for 23 kills while Middle Blocker Stephanie Renner added six blocks. The team won both matches on Sunday defeating Huntingdon & Rust. Mansfield led the Lynx against Huntingdon with 10 kills and 8 service aces while Warren added 8 kills and led the team with 12 digs. In the team's final match against Rust, Warren led the Lynx with 6 kills and 6 digs. Setter Michelle Quina had 3 service aces. 

Sewanee went 2-1 last week. The Tigers split their wins over Fisk (3-1) and Wesleyan (3-0).  Sewanee’s lone lost came against Piedmont 3-1, Friday night. Sewanee will enter this week’s SCAC Tournament as the No. 12 seed. The Tigers and No. 5 Trinity will play at 10 a.m. November 4th  in Jackson, Miss. Individually, freshman Jamie Sue Wilson paced Sewanee with 22 kills. Wilson leads Sewanee with 295 kills on the season.

No. 7 Southwestern closed out the regular season at their annual Halloween Tournament, and kept their win streak alive going 4-0 at the tournament. The Pirates opened the tournament against Clarkson University and breezed to a 3-0 win. The final match of the day pitted SU against ASC powerhouse UT Dallas. Southwestern continued their domination and took down the Comets in three sets. Day two opened for the Pirates with a match against Concordia University. Southwestern downed the Tornados 3-0. After a senior day ceremony honoring seven players competing for the last time at home, SU played NAIA school, the University of St. Thomas. The Pirates won 3-1. SU improves to 28-2 on the year and they are currently riding a 19 game win streak as they head into the SCAC tournament as the #1 seed & face the winner of Hendrix/Dallas Friday at 4:45 p.m.

Trinity finished the season with a 2-2 record at the Southwestern Halloween Tournament, defeating both East Texas Baptist and Clarkson the final day of the regular season. The Tigers lost a tight 3-2 decision to UT-Dallas to open the tournament, then fell 3-0 to NAIA member Texas Wesleyan. In the 3-2 win over ETBU, the Tigers had two players in particular with outstanding performances. Maggie Emodi recorded 27 kills to tie for the third-most in school history for a single match, and Maryn Swierc finished with 70 assists for the second-most in Trinity history. It has been 11 years since a Tiger setter recorded 70 or more assists, with the all-time record being 80 – set by Desiree Pratt in 1999. Trinity will take on Sewanee in the first round of the SCAC Tournament this weekend, with the winner advancing to face Birmingham-Southern in the second round.

For the complete SCAC Spikes Weekly for Week 9, click here.