LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The SCAC volleyball teams headed into last weekend with non-conference matches in preparations for next weekend's SCAC Volleyball Tournament play. Texas Lutheran finished their season up with a strong 3-0 weekend while Southwestern end their regular season play going 3-1 on the weekend. The SCAC Volleyball Conference Tournament will be hosted by Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas on November 8th and 9th.
AROUND THE SCAC
With its two wins on Saturday, the Austin College volleyball team reached 20 victories for the 16th straight season as the 'Roos topped Howard Payne and Hardin-Simmons. The 'Roos finish the regular season with an overall record of 20-19 as they prepare for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament next weekend. The 'Roos fell in their first two matches of the weekend, losing to Concordia 3-1 and East Texas Baptist 3-0 on Friday. Shelby Eaves had 15 kills and 12 digs and Madison Lee added 10 kills against Concordia, while Eaves had seven kills and Kelsey Klingler had 22 assists in the loss to ETBU. On Saturday, the 'Roos got 24 kills and 11 digs from Eaves and Lee again had 10 kills in the 3-1 win over Howard Payne. Rachel Fusselman had 20 digs and Klingler had 46 assists in the victory. In the second match of the day, the 'Roos battled to a 3-2 victory over HSU with Eaves registering 20 kills to lead the way once again. Klingler had 27 assists and Alyse Magnuson had 14, and Fusselman had 20 digs. The 'Roos enter the SCAC Tournament as the No. 5-seed, and will take on Texas Lutheran at 10:00 a.m. on Friday in San Antonio at host school Trinity.
Centenary closed out the 2013 regular season with a pair of wins on the weekend heading into the SCAC Championship. The Ladies notched a straight-set win over Rust and followed with a come-from-behind, 3-2 victory over LeTourneau. A trio of Ladies posted doubles-doubles in the victory over the Blue and Gold. Brooke Bahlinger tallied a team-best 19 kills along with 19 digs for Centenary. Sarah Sumner paced the team with 28 digs partnered with 12 kills on the night. Rachel Perkins rounded out the double-double group with 11 kills and 14 digs. Beth Nuttall added 52 assists in the win over LETU and finished the day with 59 total as she dished out seven against Rust. Lindsey Long totaled 12 kills in outcome for the Ladies. The Ladies face Trinity at 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 8 in the first match of the double-elimination, SCAC Championship.
No. 12 Colorado College added another impressive accomplishment to its resume with a 25-13, 25-23, 25-15 victory over Johnson & Wales University on Friday night. The Tigers improved to 30-3 and became the sixth squad in program history to record 30 wins in a single season. They also are the fourth team to reach the milestone during head coach Rick Swan's 16-year tenure. Freshman outside hitter Abbe Holtze led the way, hitting a blistering .550 with 13 kills on 20 swings with only two errors. It marked the 15th time this season she finished with double-digit kills. Holtze also had a hand in four of the team's 10 blocked shots. Sophomore libero Sophie Merrifield recorded nine digs to become the third player in school history to amass 600 or more in a single season. She needs only 23 more to eclipse Hannah Varnell's school record of 625 set during the 2011 campaign. CC held the Wildcats to a minus .022 hitting percentage, marking the fifth time an opponent finished in the red this season. Colorado College plays host to CSU-Pueblo on Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. MT in the final match of the regular season.
The University of Dallas volleyball team went 3-2 on the week. On Tuesday, in Irving, Texas, the Crusaders were bested 3-0 (13-25, 14-25, 17-25) by the University of Texas-Dallas in their home finale. On Halloween, in Brownwood, Texas, head coach Amy Byfield's squad prevailed 3-2 (31-33, 25-27, 25-23, 25-16, 15-8) over Howard Payne University. Dallas then had three matches Saturday in Longview, Texas, at LeTourneau University. The navy and white fell 3-0 (17-25, 22-25, 21-25) to the University of Texas-Tyler, but proceed to tackle Rust College-Miss. (25-7, 25-12, 25-11) and LeTourneau (25-20, 25-18, 25-16) in straight sets. Dallas enters the 2013 SCAC Volleyball Championship as the No. 7 seed. On Friday, in San Antonio, they will face second-seeded Colorado College at 1:30 p.m. in the semifinals hosted by Trinity.
The Schreiner Mountaineers were 0-3 on the week. On Friday, SU was defeated by Mary Hardin-Baylor 0-3). Then again on Saturday, the Mountaineers suffered losses to Howard Payne (2-3) and East Texas Baptist. Schreiner will face Southwestern in the first round of the SCAC Tournament on Friday, November 8th.
Southwestern closed the regular season by hosting the SCAC/ASC Crossover, taking on some of the top teams in the ASC. The Pirates ended 2-1 on the weekend, defeating Concordia and Hardin-Simmons before falling to Mary Hardin Baylor in a four set match on Saturday. Southwestern opens the post season on Friday as they face Schreiner as the #3 seed in the SCAC Conference Tournament.
The Texas Lutheran volleyball squad knew it had its work cut out for it heading into a tough weekend against three ASC opponents all battling for contention in the conference standings. The Bulldogs came out the weekend in great shape with three wins against strong opponents. They started things off with a convincing sweep of Howard Payne. The Bulldogs were led by Brette Threadgill, who notched 16 kills on .265 hitting. The defense held Howard Payne to .067 hitting on the day. TLU followed that win up with two nail-biting wins on Saturday. First, they came back from two sets down to beat East Texas Baptist. They concluded the regular season with a thrilling 3-2 win over Hardin-Simmons. East Texas Baptist and Hardin-Simmons have combined for a 28-8 ASC record.
No. 15 Trinity finished off the regular season with a 2-2 record at the Emory Invitational over the weekend, sweeping Cortland State and Berry, but falling 3-1 against ninth-ranked Juniata, and 3-2 to sixth-ranked Emory. The Tigers fall to 31-6 on the season, and the loss to Juniata snapped a 10-match winning streak. Trinity entered the weekend having won 20 of its previous 21 matches. Trinity will be the top seed at next weekend's SCAC Tournament, and will open play against #8 Centenary at 11:00 a.m. on Friday morning. The winner will face either #4 Texas Lutheran or #5 Austin College at 4:30 p.m. later that afternoon. The SCAC Championship match is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 9.
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