Posted: Oct 14, 2013
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Playing on its home court, Texas Lutheran handed No. 21 Trinity its first SCAC loss of the 2013 season with a 3-0 sweep of the Tigers at the second SCAC Group A Divisional. In Group B, Colorado College swept three matches and is now tied with Trinity for the league's top regular season seed with a 9-1 conference mark. Also at the Group B divisional, Centenry College picked up its first SCAC win in nearly two years with a come-from-behind, 3-2, win over Austin College.
AROUND THE SCAC
After topping LeTourneau 3-1 on Tuesday, Austin College fell in each of its three matches at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference crossover event hosted by Centenary over the weekend, dropping the team to 15-14 overall and 3-6 in conference play. Austin College won 12-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-23 against LeTourneau behind an outstanding performance from Shelby Eaves, who had 24 kills and 17 digs, leading the team in both categories. Kelsey Klingler had 38 assists and 16 digs, and Alyssa Pruett also added 16 digs in the win. Rachel Fusselman had 14 digs, while Madison Lee had eight kills and Bekah Newberry added seven in the victory.The 'Roos opened the weekend with a 3-0 loss to Colorado College, falling 21-25, 15-25, 21-25. Eaves had 14 kills and nine digs to lead the 'Roos and Klingler had 26 assists and 10 digs. Fusselman had a team-best 13 digs. In the second match of the weekend, the 'Roos fell 3-0 to the University of Dallas by scores of 13-25, 20-25, 14-25 with Eaves again leading the way with nine kills and adding six digs, while Klingler had 15 assists and 11 digs. The 'Roos wrapped up the weekend with a tough 3-2 loss to host school Centenary, falling 20-25, 26-24, 25-21, 22-25, 14-16. Once again Eaves led the 'Roos with 29 kills and 12 digs and Newberry added 12 kills and six total blocks. Klingler had 55 assists and 19 digs and Fusselman had a team-best 20 digs.
Centenary grabbed its first, SCAC win in nearly two years with a come from behind, 3-2, win over Austin College to close out the SCAC Divisional this weekend. Four Ladies posted double-doubles in the match headlined by Beth Nuttall's career-high 52 assists and 14 digs. Sarah Sumner led the squad with 25 kills and tallied 12 digs. Rachel Perkins ranked second on the team with 12 kills paired with 11 digs for her first double-double of the season. Brooke Bahlinger led a strong defensive effort with a team-best 24 digs and 10 kills. Sumner compiled 62 kills and 29 digs for the week with Nuttall dishing out 117 assists and Bahlinger recording a team-best 54 digs.
Head coach Rick Swan celebrated his 50th birthday with three consecutive three-set victories last weekend for No. 9 Colorado College. Sophomore outside hitter Emily Phillips posted her eighth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 17 digs to lead Colorado College to a 25-21, 25-15, 25-21 victory over Austin on Friday afternoon. The 'Roos hit just .088 as a team to become the 14th opponent that CC has kept below .100 this season. On Saturday, the Tigers rolled to a 25-15, 25-10, 25-14 victory over host Centenary in the morning, then came back in the very next match to post a 25-17, 26-24, 25-10 triumph against the University of Dallas. Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Hahn tied her career high with 16 kills while hitting a career-best .615 against the Ladies. Sophomore outside hitter Emily Phillips hit .600 with seven kills on 10 swings with only one error and recorded three of the team's nine service aces. Freshman setter Rebecca Watson played the final two sets and finished with 20 assists. As a team, Colorado College hit a blistering .488 (46-6-82), their highest percentage of the season. Sophomore libero Sophie Merrifield paced the defense with 12 digs, while sophomore rightside hitter Courtney Birkett had a hand in three blocked shots. In the sweep of the Crusaders, Birkett had a match-high 10 kills to power the CC attack. Freshman middle hitter Keli Sherwood added a season-high five kills on 10 swings. Merrifield paced the defense with 18 kills, reaching double digits for the 25th time in 27 matches. The Tigers extended their current winning streak to eight with their 19th three-set victory of the season. Colorado College returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 16, when it plays host to Division II Colorado Christian University at 7 p.m. CC plays at Johnson & Wales University on Friday, Oct. 18.
Dallas went 2-1 on the week against conference competition in Shreveport, La. On Friday, in the Gold Dome, the Crusaders defeated host-school Centenary in straight sets (25-16, 25-19, 25-15). Saturday brought a 1-1 record for head coach Amy Byfield's squad in a continuation of SCAC Divisional No. 3, as Dallas fell 3-0 (17-25, 24-26, 10-25) to Colorado College before countering with a sweep (25-13, 25-20, 25-14) of Austin College. Dallas will host a 4 p.m. tri-match Tuesday vs. Dallas Christian College and Texas College, and will be featured during the #SCAC8in8 Tour. On Thursday, the Crusaders will trek to Arlington, Texas, to play in a tri-match with Hillsdale Freewill Baptist College-Okla. (approx. 6 p.m.) and Arlington Baptist College (approx. 8 p.m.).
Schreiner went 0-3 on the week. On Friday, the Mountaineers were defeated by Texas Lutheran, 3-1. With matches on Saturday, Schreiner lost to both Trinity (3-1) and Southwestern (3-0). Schreiner will host two non-conference opponents this week when they face Howard Payne (Tuesday, October 15th) and Our Lady of the Lake (Saturday, October 19th).
Southwestern took two of three matches this weekend to remain in third place in the SCAC. The Pirates opened the weekend with a rematch against conference rival Trinity. Trinity snuck out points to stay just ahead of SU and took the match 3-0. On day two Southwestern was strong with a vibrant attack to win 3-1 over Texas Lutheran and 3-0 over Schreiner. Southwestern improves to 15-8 overall and 7-3 in the SCAC after the weekend. They return to action on Friday, October 18th as they head to San Antonio to face Webster, Springfield, Eastern and Redlands.
Texas Lutheran enjoyed a 2-1 weekend while hosting Schreiner, Southwestern and Trinity. The Bulldogs opened up the weekend on Friday with a 3-1 win over Schreiner. In that one, Brette Threadgill led the way with a career-high 18 kills on .364 hitting. For the match, Texas Lutheran hit .174 while holding Schreiner to .088 hitting. The Bulldogs also recorded 89 digs compared to just 74 for Schreiner. For the second time this season, the Texas Lutheran volleyball team has gone up against a team ranked in the Top 25 and come away victorious after sweeping No. 21 Trinity at home on Saturday evening. The Bulldogs got 25 combined kills from Brette Threadgill and Vanecia Spencer, 35 assists from Manda Martin and 30 digs from Megan Leeto help lead the upset. In Saturday's opening match, a 10-25, 22-25, 25-17, 13-25 loss to Southwestern, the Bulldogs' offense was held in check to the tune of .100 hitting. The two key sets were the first the fourth, where the Pirates outscored Texas Lutheran a combined 50-23.
No. 21 Trinity went 3-1 over the past week, highlighted by winning two of three matches at the SCAC Group A Divisional on Friday and Saturday. The Tigers pushed their winning streak to 12 matches before falling in the weekend finale against hosting Texas Lutheran. Trinity survived a 3-2 thriller over Concordia (TX) University to start the week, then won 3-0 and 3-1 over Southwestern and Schreiner. The Tigers will finish their regular season home schedule this weekend, hosting the Trinity Fall Classic on Friday and Saturday. Trinity takes on the University of Redlands, 12th-ranked Eastern University, Springfield College, and Webster University.
To view the entire SCAC Spike Weekly for week seven, click here.
