LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The second round of group divisional play highlighted this past week of SCAC volleyball.
All eight SCAC teams were in action with the Group A teams (Schreiner University, Southwestern University, Texas Lutheran University and Trinity University) squaring off in San Antonio, Texas, and the Group B teams (Austin College, Centenary College, Colorado College, and the University of Dallas) matching up in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Austin College
The Austin College volleyball team fell to No. 10-ranked Colorado College and the University of Dallas before cruising past Centenary in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Divisional held in Colorado Springs this weekend. The 'Roos are now 19-11 overall and 3-7 in conference play.
The 'Roos played Colorado College tough on Friday before falling 25-22, 25-22, 25-18, with Madison Lee tallying a team-best seven kills to go along with four digs. Presleigh Watson had six kills and five total blocks, and Madi McVay had a team-high 15 digs. Rachel Fusselman added 11 digs, and Lauren Wulz had 16 assists to lead the 'Roos.
In the team's second match of the weekend against Dallas, the 'Roos dropped a hard fought battle with the Crusaders 25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 17-25, 16-18. Austin College struggled with its hitting percentage in those final three sets, failing to top .100 in any of them. Rebekah Bowden had an outstanding performance with 10 kills and a .290 hitting percentage and added nine total blocks, and Lee added 10 kills and eight digs.
Watson had nine kills and six total blocks, and Fusselman had 25 digs while McVay finished with 21. Chandler Sherman led the 'Roos with 23 assists, and Wulz added 18 aassists and 17 digs.
In the final match of the weekend, the 'Roos topped Centenary 26-24, 25-16, 25-18 and boasted a team hitting percentage of .324 with 17 total blocks as a team. Dani DeWitt led the way with eight kills, six digs, and four blocks, and Rebecca Franklin had seven kills against zero hitting errors. Lee finished with six kills and a team-best 11 digs, and Wulz had 15 assists.
Centenary College
After falling in straight sets on Friday to the University of Dallas (25-13, 25-11, 26-24), the Centenary volleyball team closed out the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Divisional with a couple of straight set setbacks to Colorado College and Austin College.
In Friday night's opening match, Lindsey Long led the Maroon and White's offensive attack with six kills. Allison Lazewski and Rachel Perkins each added double figure assists. Lazewski dished out 12 with 11 coming from Perkins in the contest. Desiree Frey guided the defensive effort with 12 digs.
On Saturday, Lazewski totaled 29 assists in the two matches including 18 in the final outing against Austin College. Frey led the Ladies with 12 kills in the match against AC while Perkins provided 10 digs.
Perkins paced the Maroon and White in the opening contest with five kills. The trio of Lazewski, Frey and Haley Cubberly each garnered eight digs to lead the squad in the match.
Centenary hung with the Tigers in the opening set of the first match of the day falling 25-20, but the Black and Gold wasn't to be outdone in the affair on its home floor winning the final two sets 25-6 and 25-13.
The Ladies were clipped in the opening set of the match with the Roos falling 26-24 before dropping a 25-16 decision in the second set and AC closing the weekend out with a 25-18 win in the final set.
Colorado College
After a 3-0 sweep of Austin College on Friday evening, No. 10 Colorado College had another exceptional performance on Saturday in Reid Arena as it swept Centenary College and the University of Dallas in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference action.
On Friday, the Tigers were led by sophomore Abbe Holtze, who earned her 13th double-double of the season with a team-high 10 kills along with 16 digs. Junior McQella Adams also added 10 kills for the team in her career-high performance.
Senior Kristen Liberty and junior Kaimara Herron also gave a solid performance for the Tigers at the net with eight kills a pieace. Sophomore Rebecca Watson ran the offense with 24 assists for a team high.
CC had 46 kills to outhit Austin, which had only 27 kills on the night. The Tigers' back row also came up strong serving seven aces, while picking up 57 digs.
On Saturday, the Tigers were dominate both offensively and defensively, outhitting their opponents with a combined .256 attack percentage on the day, while holding the teams to a combined .029 hitting percentage. CC had 77 kills over the course of the day compared to 45 kills by its opponents.
Holtz led the Tigers with 27 combined kills and added 19 digs on defense. The outside hitter had a solid performance over Dallas with 14 kills to lead the team along with 13 digs and a team-high three blocks.
Defensively, CC was led by junior Sophie Merrifield in the back row with 36 digs and Herron at the net with eight blocks during the pair of sweeps.
The Tigers began the day with a 25-20, 25-6, 25-13 victory over Centenary (2-16, 0-9 SCAC), holding the Ladies to a -.012 attack percentage in three sets.
CC hit a blistering .455 hitting percentage during the second set with 12 kills in 22 attempts with just two errors. Centenary's six points during the second set gave the Tigers their largest margin of victory in a set this season.
Colorado College (23-4, 9-1 SCAC) carried its energy into the final match of the day with a 25-19, 25-15, 25-16 win over Dallas (17-9, 6-4 SCAC).
The Tigers hit a .229 attack percentage with 39 kills, while limiting the Crusaders to 29 kills on a .058 hitting percentage.
Liberty earned seven kills against Dallas, while freshman Glenna Yancey and Adams added six and five kills, respectively.
Watson once again ran the offense with 21 assists over the Crusaders to go along with her team-high 25 assists she had earlier in the day.
Senior Julia Lawton and Merrifield served up three aces each to lead the team against the Crusaders. The duo also had three aces a piece in the first day's match to lead the team again in serving.
University of Dallas
After opening with a solid 3-0 sweep of Centenary College on Friday night, he University of Dallas volleyball (17-8, 6-3 SCAC) team split two matches on Saturday, edging Austin College (18-11, 2-7 SCAC) 3-2 in the first of the twinbill, before No. 10 Colorado College (23-4, 9-1 SCAC) nipped the navy and white in a sweep.
Dallas took two of three in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Divisional No. 3 tournament over the weekend. The Lady Crusaders had carried a seven-game winning streak, a season-best, prior to the setback versus the nationally ranked host opponent.
In Friday's win against Centenary, Dallas was led by senior middle blocker Emily Caples, who notched a team-high, 14 kills, the lone member of the navy and white to break double figures in that category. Senior setter C.J. Broadbent added 29 assists while defensively sophomore libero Jessie Koster scooped out 11 digs, also becoming the only player to burst into that category in double-digits.
On Saturday, the Crusaders got off to a rough start, needing three-straight set victories to rally down 2-0 and secure the contest in the early part of Saturday. Dallas fell 25-21 and 25-20 in the first pair of sets.
The navy and white turned the corner in the third round, building a lead as large as 23-16. Austin College answered back with four unanswered points to narrow the deficit by three, but the Lady Crusaders notched the next two sequences to secure the set-point.
In the fourth set, Dallas never trailed and utilized a 5-0 scoring stretch to build a 15-6 advantage, that would eventually seal the contest's largest point differential in a 25-17 win.
After battling to a 15-15 naught in the final frame, the Lady Crusaders were down to the match point, trailing 16-15. A trio of attacks that resulted in kills, including a two from freshman outside hitter Mary Scholtz, would lift Dallas to an 18-16 decision. Scholz was the striker on the game-tying and winning scores.
Junior right-side hitter Cat Dowgwillo contributed a critical kill in between Scholz's match-changing hits.
Dowgwillo paced a trio of Crusaders with a season-high, 17 kills. Junior middle blocker Jaimie Birzer added another stellar effort with 15 kills, and boasted a team-best .316 kill percentage. Scholz provided a personal-best of her own with 13.
Defensively, another trio notched double-digit numbers for digs. This unit was led by Koster with 36, Broadbent pulling 20, and freshman defensive specialist Diana Hassink rounding the group out with a season-high, 16.
As a team, the navy and white collected 121 digs.
It was more difficult for Dallas in the second match of the twinbill day, with Colorado College pushing a 3-0 result. It snapped a lengthy winning stretch for the navy and white.
The Tigers were successful posting 25-19, 25-15, and 25-16 set victories in each respective round to conclude the tournament.
Dowgillo and Birzer paced the offense with eight and seven kills, respectively. Koster and Broadbent added 12 digs apiece, while the senior setter also placed 22 assists in the setback.
Dallas remains in fourth place in the SCAC standings, trailing Southwestern (8-2) by two games for third. Colorado College and No.16 Trinity University both sit atop the standings after unblemished weekends.
Schreiner University
The Schreiner University women fell to 1-9 in SCAC play (1-21 overall) as the Mountaineers were defeated by Texas Lutheran on Friday evening before falling to 16th-ranked Trinity and Southwestern in Group Divisional play on Saturday afternoon on the campus of Trinity University.
Schreiner was swept by TLU (25-15, 25-19, 25-19) and Trinity (25-12, 25-18, 25-9) but did manage to get a set off of a tough Southwetern team (25-14, 13-25, 25-17, 25-7).
In Friday's first match, freshman Lauren McQueen had five kills and eight digs while sophomore Shannon Lawson had nine digs, senior Kelli Bolen chipped in nine assists. Junior Alyssa Chapman added four kills.
Junior Alyssa Chapman had a team-high 10 kills in Friday's match against TLU with senior Kelli Bolen handing out 19 assists.
In Saturday's final match, Schreiner got nine kills and 11 digs from freshman Lauren McQueen and eight kills from Chapman. Senior Kathryn Wallace had 12 digs and Bolen dished out 26 assists.
Schreiner faces Our Lady of the Lake on Tuesday, October 21st in their next match, in San Antonio.
Southwestern University
Southwestern posted a 2-1 week at the SCAC Group A Divisional held on the campus of Trinity University. In Friday night's opener featured another epic battle between SCAC stalwarts Southwestern and Trinity, with the Tigers coming out on top 3-1. Two of the four sets went to extended points. The Pirates rebounded on Saturday to take victories against both Texas Lutheran (3-0) and Schreiner (3-1).
In Friday's night's tough loss to 16th-ranked Trinity, Macey Pool led the way offensively for the Pirates with 14 kills while Kirby Kincannon added in 11 with a .385 attack percentage. Defensively, Kaitlyn Corbett posted 25 digs and Kaitlyn Foster added in 23. Kincannon also posted four blocks on the evening.
Pool had a combined 21 kills in Saturday's two matches and also had 25 digs. Foster followed with 19 kills and 29 digs, including a .316 attack percentage in the win against Schreiner. Kincannon chipped in with 15 kills over the two matches, with included nine against Schreiner when she led the team with a .412 attack percentage. The Pirates held both TLU (.087) and Schreiner (.095) to sub .100 hitting on Saturday.
Nikki Welch had 18 and 35 assists, respectively, against TLU and Schreiner to lead the Pirates in both contests.
Southwestern remains in third place with an 8-2 SCAC mark (16-8 overall).
Texas Lutheran University
The Texas Lutheran volleyball team finished the second SCAC Group A Divisional with a 1-2 mark, defeating Schreiner (3-0) on Friday before dropping its final two games of the weekend on Saturday, suffering sweeps to both Southwestern and No. 16 Trinity.
The two losses dropped the Bulldogs' record to 15-9 on the year and 4-6 in the SCAC.
Against Schreiner, the Bulldogs powered their way to a 25-15, 25-19, 25-19 sweep. Brette Threadgill was absolutely dominant against the Mountaineers, finishing with a team-high 13 kills on a season-high .545 hitting percentage. She was the only Bulldog with double-digit kills on the night.
Katie Darst led the way with 28 assists. Three different Bulldogs tallied double-digit digs, with Megan Lee leading the team with 21.
In Saturday's first match, TLU fell 25-22, 25-20, 25-12 to Southwestern.
It was just the fifth this time season TLU was held below .100 hitting for a match. The Bulldogs hit .087 against the Pirates, while Southwestern hit .200.
The Texas Lutheran offense was held in check, with no players notching more than seven kills. Threadgill and Anna Keeling led the team with seven kills each.
The weekend wrapped up with a 25-20, 25-15, 25-22 loss at the hands of the nationally-ranked Trinity. Once again, the Bulldog offense was held in check, as TLU hit .008, its lowest hitting percentage of the season.
Threadgill finished with a team-high 11 kills (.172 hitting). Kristin Fording notched seven kills, but no other Bulldog tallied more than three. Lee was one of four Bulldogs to tally double-digit digs. The senior finished with 17 to go along with three service aces.
Trinity University
The 16th-ranked Trinity University volleyball team swept through Group A Divisional play this weekend, defeating Southwestern University on Friday night (3-1) before taking care of Texas Luthearn University and Schreiner University in straight sets. The Tigers (19-5, 9-1 SCAC) have now won eight consecutive matches and 15 of the last 16 and remained tied with Colorado College for first place in the SCAC.
Friday night, Trinity won the first two sets 27-25 and 25-20, then Southwestern held off the Tigers to win the third 29-27. In the fourth, Trinity was able to rally and hang on for a 25-22 win to clinch another exciting match between the two rivals.
Two All-Americans, Maggie Emodi and Layne Hubbard, registered double-doubles in the matchup. Emodi led the match with 19 kills, while producing 22 digs. Hubbard had 26 digs, to go with 11 kills. Erika Edrington's double-double consisted of 31 assists and 11 digs. Shannon Courtney led the match with 28 digs.
All-American Erin Cusenbary hit .370, picking up 13 kills, committing three errors, and initiating 27 total attacks. Jenny Epperson produced 23 assists, and Kirby Smith was effective with 10 kills. Rebecca Hayes led the match in the blocks column, with six.
On Saturday, Emodi hit .467 against Schreiner, with seven kills, no errors, and 15 total attacks. She also made a match-leading 13 digs. Erika Edrington shelled out 18 assists and three service aces, while Epperson fired up four aces. Smith hit .364, with six kills, two errors, and 11 total attacks.
Emodi claimed a double-double against Texas Lutheran, with 11 kills and 18 digs. She also amassed three aces in the winning effort. Edrington registered a double-double, with 16 assists and 10 digs. Bridget Bohman hit .333 in the match, making six kills, no errors, and 18 total attacks. Smith produced a double-double, tying Emodi for the match lead in kills, with 11 and chalking up 10 digs. Courtney posted 14 digs in the matchup, along with three aces.
