LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Colorado College is off to their best start since 1985 (14-0) as they improved to 12-0 on the weekend with four more wins in the non-conference slate. Trinity University continued its strong play, going 3-1 in their home openers while Southwestern upset the No. 12 team in the country.
AROUND THE SCAC
The Austin College volleyball team split its four matches over the weekend at the Rhodes Invitational, falling 3-0 to East Texas Baptist and UT-Tyler but defeating Maryville and Rhodes by scores of 3-2 each. The 'Roos are now 8-6 overall this season. Shelby Eaves led the 'Roos with an average of 4.44 kills per set, including notching 29 kills in the win over Maryville, and added eight service aces and 3.31 digs per set. Rachel Fusselman had an outstanding weekend as well, averaging 5.12 digs per set, and Kelsey Klingler led the 'Roos with an average of 8.33 assists per set. Reygan Holloman averaged 1.75 kills and totaled 14 blocks in the four matches, and Alyse Magnuson chipped in 2.81 digs per set. This week the 'Roos are home on Wednesday when they take on Oklahoma City and Texas College.
Centenary dropped a hard fought, three-set match to LeTourneau on Tuesday evening in the Ladies only action of the week. Lindsey Long posted a .273 attack percentage to lead the Maroon and White as the Texarkana, Texas, native tallied four kills on 11 attacks. The sophomore also recorded an ace, a dig and two block assists for the Ladies. Sarah Irons and Sarah Sumner tied for the team lead in kills with five each. Beth Nuttall supplied 17 assists in the effort while Rachel Perkins tallied a team-best 16 digs. Centenary returns to action on Friday, Sept. 20 as the Ladies square off with Colorado College in Irving, Texas.
No. 14 Colorado College won all four of its matches at the 2013 Associated Colleges of the Midwest Tournament to improve to 12-0. It's the second time in program history that the Tigers have opened a season with 12 consecutive victories, but marks their longest streak ever out of the gate during the NCAA's current rally-scoring era that began in 2001. Only the 1985 squad, which went 14-0 under the old best-of-three games format, can lay claim to a better start. Head coach Rick Swan, meanwhile, reached the 400-wins plateau for his career. That includes a 367-141 (.722) mark in 16 years at Colorado College helm. He previously was 33-40 at Webster University. CC's first eight victories this season came at home, the last four on the road in Decorah, Iowa, on the campus of Luther College, where the Tigers swept four opponents with barely a scare. Freshman outside hitter Abbe Holtze hit .352 (48-10-108) and averaged 4.27 points, 3.69 kills and 3.23 digs per set. That performance earned Holtze a spot on the all-tournament team for the third week in a row. Sophomore libero Sophie Merrifield averaged 5.38 digs per set to lead the defensive effort. Colorado College opens conference play next weekend in Irving, Texas, with divisional matches against Centenary College, Austin College and host University of Dallas.
The University of Dallas volleyball team (4-6) went 1-1 on the week. The Crusaders ventured up to Seward, Neb., to participate Saturday in a tri-match. Head coach Amy Byfield's squad prevailed 3-1 (25-11, 25-21, 31-33, 25-18) over Presentation College (S.D.), before falling 3-0 (22-25, 15-25, 22-25) to host school Concordia University at Walz Arena. On the slate are five home matches for Dallas this week -- Arlington Baptist College (Thursday, 4 p.m.); Jarvis Christian College-Okla. (Friday, 8 p.m.); Austin (Friday, 4 p.m.); Centenary (Saturday, 12:30 p.m.); Colorado College (Saturday, 3 p.m.).
Schreiner (2-6, 0-0) was 1-1 on the week. On Saturday, Schreiner split matches with UT- Dallas, falling 3-0, before coming back and picking up a win over Concordia Texas, 3-1. Schreiner will host the opening SCAC Crossover Tournament this weekend with matches against Texas Lutheran (Friday, Sept. 20th), Trinity, and Southwestern (Saturday, Sept 21st).
Southwestern volleyball took on their toughest competition to date as the competed in the Emory Classic over the weekend. SU faced three nationally-ranked opponents and went 1-3 to move to 8-4 on the year. The Pirates opened with Cal Lutheran on Friday night. Southwester was in every match and took one from the Lutes, but ultimately fell 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-27, 27-25). After the tough loss Southwestern had to turn right around and take on a fresh Millsaps team. SU dropped the opening set 25-22 but regrouped to win the second and fourth easily, 25-14, 25-11. It was a race to the finish as the Majors snuck ahead to steal the win in the fifth set 16-14. Day two opened with a big win over Christopher Newport as Southwestern took the match in four sets, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-14. The Pirates couldn't ride the momentum to a second victory, however, as they closed out the weekend with a 3-1 loss to Emory. Kaitlyn Foster was named to the All-Tournament team. The Pirates open SCAC conference action in Kerrville this weekend, facing Trinity, Texas Lutheran and Schreiner.
The Texas Lutheran After dropping a five-set thriller to the University of Texas at Dallas, the Texas Lutheran volleyball squad bounced back to beat Concordia Texas 3-1 Saturday evening at Tostengard Activity Center. Against the Tornados, the Bulldogs used a scrappy defense and some timely offense to win, recording 87 digs compared to 77 for Concordia. The Bulldogs also got some key contributions from the service line, recording 10 aces in the match. Texas Lutheran had four players reach double-digit digs with Megan Lee leading the way with 23 on the evening. Manda Martin finished with a double-double, notching 16 digs to go along with her 20 assists. It was her third straight double-double and fifth of the season. In the Bulldogs' 17-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-22, 9-15 loss to Texas Dallas, their comeback from down two sets fell just short. Texas Lutheran was led in that one by junior Vanecia Spencer, who topped the team with 15 kills on .100 hitting. Martin was solid too, notching 34 assists and a season-high 24 digs to record the double-double.
Trinity finished its first home tournament of the year with a 3-1 record, tying for the top overall record at the National Invitational with both the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Whitworth University. The Tigers opened with a pair of wins on Friday, sweeping Berry College 3-0, then wrapping up with a 3-1 win over Hardin-Simmons University. Trinity lost to Whitworth on Saturday, but bounced back with a solid 3-0 victory over Chapman University. Megan Reynolds and Maryn Swierc were named to the All-Tournament team. Trinity opens SCAC play this weekend in Kerrville, Texas, facing off against Southwestern, Texas Lutheran, and tournament host Schreiner. It is the first of back-to-back weekends of conference play.
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