Colorado College, Southwestern University and SCAC champion Trinity University all advanced with first round wins in NCAA Division III Volleyball Regional action on Friday.
In the Atlanta Regional, Colorado College defeated Maryville (Tenn.) College, 3-0, while at the San Antonio Regional, Southwestern upset Mary Hardin-Baylor, 3-2, and Trinity defeated University of California-Santa Cruz, 3-1.
#2 Colorado College 3, #7 Maryville (Tenn.) College 0
(Story courtesy of Colorado College)
ATLANTA, Ga. -- Second-seeded Colorado College swept Maryville (Tenn.) College 25-14, 25-13, 25-17 in the Tigers' opening round of the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament's Atlanta Regional at Emory University. Box Score | Regional Website | Interactive Bracket | Postgame Interview
Colorado College (34-4) will face Claremont Mudd Scripps, also a 3-0 winner (25-15, 25-13, 25-16) on Friday over Thomas More College, in second-round action at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
Sophomore oustide hitter Lauren Hahn led Colorado College with 15 kills, while classmate Emily Phillips had 10 kills and 15 digs for her 10th double-double of the season.
"It was a good start," said head coach Rick Swan. "After we got rid of some the early jitters and gained some confidence we played well."
CC led 12-9 in Set 1 before reeling off six straight points with freshman setter Rebecca Watson serving, then cruised to the victory. Watson recorded 38 assists and eight digs in the match. In the second set Colorado College jumped out to a 10-2 advantage, then stretched the lead to 22-8 before winning by the 25-13 score. In the third and final set the Tigers got off to a slow start and found themselves in a 10-3 hole. But fueled by the hitting of Hahn, who hit .278 while posting double-digit kills for the 11th time this campaign, CC went on a 22-7 run to complete the sweep. As a team the Tigers hit .259 and held Maryville to a .020 attack percentage.
"Our energy was great today," said junior captain Kristen Liberty, who added six kills of her own. "Our first-years and sophomores really stepped up. We had a good time today."
Maryville finished the year with a record of 24-16. Claremont, meanwhile, improved to 25-6 and is the No. 3-seeded team at the regional.
"Tomorrow will be a good match," said Swan. "Claremont is a solid team. They showed that today. I think we will be in for a battle."
#6 Southwestern University 3, #3 University of Mary Hardin-Baylor 2
(Story courtesy of Southwestern University)
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Southwestern used late runs to pull out a 3-2 win over Mary Hardin-Baylor in the opening round of the NCAA Regional Friday afternoon. Box Score | Regional Website | Interactive Bracket
This wasn't the first match of the season for the two teams. Mary Hardin-Baylor won both contests, the first 3-2 and the second 3-1, but SU came in ready to take the win when it mattered most.
Southwestern started well and took a slight lead 7-5 early in the match, but the Crusaders hung around and remained within striking distance the entire way, even taking the lead a handful of times.
A late run in the set gave the Pirates their biggest lead thus far, four points 20-16, but UMHB clawed back into the game to pull within one 22-21. Southwestern regrouped and pulled out the 26-24 extended set win to go up 1-0 in the opening round match.
SU rode the momentum to open set two, jumping out to a 3-1 lead before UMHB stormed back to take the lead 11-7. Needing a run, Southwestern got just that as they tied the game once again 15-15 on a big kill by Macey Pool from the middle of the court.
Mary Hardin Baylor pushed two points to go up 19-17 and the lead was enough to hold off the Pirates as UMHB evened the match 1-1 with a 25-21 set two win.
Southwestern opened set three in similar fashion, going up 4-0 to force a UMHB timeout to stop the bleeding. In a blink of an eye, with a run of their own, the Cru erased SU's lead to tie the game 5-5. The game was tight the whole way but it was UMHB who reached the finish line first as they took set three 25-21, closing with three straight points to go up 2-1.
The tight match continued into the fourth until UMHB ran ahead 13-8 on SU. Back to back attack errors by the Cru followed by a kill by Kirby Kincannon brought SU within two, 13-11, forcing a UMHB timeout. The stop in play couldn't keep the Pirate run from continuing as SU closed out the match with a 7-2 run to win 25-23 and force a fifth set.
In the fifth set it was all SU from the outset as they sprinted out to an 8-1 lead. The Crusaders had one final fight left in them as they rallied all the way back to even the game 13-13. Pool put the final nail in the coffin with a big kill as the Pirates won 15-13.
Pool had 18 kills on the afternoon while Kaitlyn Foster led the attack with 22 kills and a .298 attack percentage. Olivia Drummond added in 10 kills. Nikki Welchrecorded 57 assists while Chandler Lentz had 29 digs, aided by Foster's 20 digs.
The win improves to Southwestern to 27-11 on the year and they advance to the NCAA Regional Semifinals. They face the winner of the Trinity/UC Santa Cruz match scheduled for 7 p.m. and will play on Saturday at 6 p.m.
#2 Trinity University 3, #7 University of California-Santa Cruz 1
(Story courtesy of Trinity University)
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- The Trinity Tigers volleyball team opened its 20th NCAA Division III Tournament with a 3-1 victory over the University of California-Santa Cruz on Friday night. Box Score | Regional Website | Interactive Bracket
Hosting the San Antonio, Texas, Regional, the Tigers defeated the Banana Slugs 25-12, 20-25, 25-21, and 25-16. Trinity (35-6) is the tournament's No. 2 seed, and will take on the sixth-seeded Southwestern Pirates in the regional semifinals at 6:00 p.m. Saturday. The winner advances to the regional final at 4:00 p.m. Sunday.
Maggie Emodi recorded a double-double in the first-round match, picking up 11 kills and 16 digs. Emodi also was responsible for blocking five shots.
Maryn Swierc posted 20 assists and seven digs, while Erika Edrington accounted for 16 assists.
Layne Hubbard made 14 digs and eight kills, while Shannon Courtney had a team-best 19 digs. Courtney also fired in three services aces, as did Erin Cusenbary. In addition, Cusenbary made five blocked shots. Kelsey Daniel was the match leader in blocks, with eight in her column.
Santa Cruz (20-7) was competing in its first NCAA Tournament.
Saturday's matchup between Trinity and Southwestern will be a familiar sight, as the two teams have met three times this year. The Tigers took all three matches, including the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship last week, held in Sams Gym. Trinity won the SCAC title in a tight 3-2 match. On Friday, the Pirates defeated third-seeded Mary Hardin-Baylor 3-2 to advance to the Saturday semifinals.
The opening match of the day, at 3:30 p.m., will pit No. 1 California Lutheran with No. 4 Texas-Dallas. Cal Lutheran edged eighth-seeded Hardin-Simmons 3-2, while UT-Dallas beat No. 5 Pomona-Pitzer 3-1.
