Posted: Oct 07, 2013
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - It was a quiet week in SCAC Volleyball as the conference season paused for a week; however, Colorado College and Dallas both put together great weekends, going undefeated in home contests. Trinity and Austin College added a weekday win while Centenary picked up a huge five set victory.
AROUND THE SCAC
The Austin College volleyball team went 2-0 last week, topping Rust College and Arlington Baptist College each by scores of 3-0. After a dominant performance against Rust, which included one 25-2 set victory, the ‘Roos took on Arlington Baptist and earned a 25-21, 25-22, 25-20 victory to improve to 14-11 overall this season. In the Arlington Baptist match, Shelby Eaves led the team with 12 kills and 13 digs and Rachel Fusselman matched her with 13 digs. Kelsey Klingler led the way with 37 assists against ABC, and Madison Lee had eight kills. The ‘Roos are back in action on Tuesday night when they travel to Longview, Texas to take on LeTourneau.
Centenary logged its second win of the season defeating LeTourneau 3-2 to split a pair of non-conference contests last week. Sarah Sumner led the Ladies with 32 kills. Sumner logged double-doubles in both outings with 13 kills and 14 digs against East Texas Baptist and followed it up with 19 kills and 16 digs in the win over the Yellowjackets. Beth Nuttall added a pair of double-doubles as well with 30 assists and 10 digs against ETBU and set a career-high with 49 assists and 10 digs against LETU. Brooke Bahlinger, who was second on the team in kills with 16 in the decision over the Blue and Gold, led the team with 26 digs – season-high – for her first double-double of the season. Bahlinger garnered 47 digs for the week. Centenary returns to action on Tuesday as the Ladies host the University of Texas-Tyler at 6 p.m.
Playing at home for the first time since Sept. 7, No. 11 Colorado College won 12 of 13 sets to win the 2013 Molten Volleyball Spike It Up Classic at Reid Gymnasium. The Tigers won their third tournament crown of the season in as many chances and improved to 12-0 at home. Freshman outside hitter Abbe Holtze recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 13 kills and 12 digs to lead CC to a 25-10, 25-22, 25-21 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan in Friday’s first match. Holtze hit .471 with nine kills on 17 attacks in the 25-11, 25-22, 25-10 win over the University of La Verne, which gave the Colorado College 20 victories for 11th year in a row. The Tigers drooped the opening set against Hamline University in Saturday’s first match, but roared back to post a 22-25, 25-13, 25-17, 25-15 victory over the Pipers. Holtze led the attack with 13 kills, while junior middle hitter Randi Braak had a hand in eight blocks to fuel the defensive effort. Sophomore opposite hitter Courtney Birkett posted a match-high 16 kills and completed her second double-double of the season with 11 digs to lead CC to a 25-21, 25-22, 25-23 victory over NWU in Saturday’s championship match. Sophomore libero Sophie Merrifield recorded 29 digs, her ninth match of the season with 20 or more. Sophomore setter Devon Lucero was voted tournament MVP by the opposing coaches, while Birkett and Merrifield also earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Colorado College returns to conference play next weekend with Divisional matches against Austin, Centenary and Dallas in Shreveport, La.
Dallas went 3-0 on the week in non-conference matches. On Friday, in Irving, Texas, as hosts of the Dallas Fall Break Invitational, the Crusaders defeated Johnson & Wales University-Colo. in four sets (26-24, 25-13, 21-25, 26-16). On Saturday, at the Maher Athletic Center, head coach Amy Byfield’s crew took down Victory University-Tenn. in four sets (16-25, 25-8, 25-16, 25-14), before sweeping Rust College-Miss. (25-13, 25-3, 25-9). This week, Dallas will head to Shreveport, La., for three conference matches -- Centenary (Friday, 6 p.m.); Colorado (Saturday, 12 p.m.); Austin (Saturday, 3 p.m.).
Schreiner was idle this past weekend. They will return to action on Friday and Saturday as they travel to Seguin to take on Southwestern, Texas Lutheran, and Trinity in conferene play.
Southwestern had a much needed quiet week of action as they traveled to face one of the top teams in the ASC, UT Dallas. The Pirates started out well, but late rallies in all three sets gave the Comets the 3-0 win, 25-20, 25-22, 25-21. Kaitlyn Foster led with 11 kills while Chandler Lentz had 20 digs in the loss. Southwestern falls to 13-7 on the year and remain at 5-2 in the SCAC. They return to conference play this weekend, traveling to Seguin, Texas for a rematches with Trinity, Texas Lutheran and Schreiner.
Texas Lutheran was idle this past weekend. They will return to action on Friday and Saturday as they will host Schreiner, Southwestern, and Trinity at home in SCAC action.
No. 23 Trinity improved its winning streak to nine matches with a 3-1 victory over Our Lady of the Lake University on Thursday night.The Tigers have won 13 of the past 14 matches, dating back to September 7, and have upped their season record to 18-3. Erin Cusenbary moved up to a tie for 13th in school history for career blocks at Trinity, and she is now just 21 blocks from becoming the 11th Tiger player ever to reach 300 for a career. Maryn Swierc is just 19 digs from becoming the 18th player in school history to reach 1,100 in a career, and she is also closing in on 2,000 career assists with the Tigers. Trinity will face four teams this weekend, including a three-match weekend of SCAC play in Seguin, Texas. The week begins with a non-conference tilt against Concordia (TX) University on Wednesday, then resumes with a stout matchup against Southwestern University on Friday afternoon. The Tigers then take on Schreiner University and SCAC Group A Divisional hosts Texas Lutheran University on Saturday. Trinity beat all three teams in Kerrville, Texas, earlier this season at the first Group A Divisional.
To view the entire SCAC Spike Weekly for week six, click here.
