Posted: Nov 05, 2021
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Third-seeded Southwestern University advanced to the SCAC tournament semifinals for the 11th consecutive year following a 3-1 win over sixth-seeded University of St. Thomas on Friday evening at Calgaard Gymnasium. Official Championships Website | Photo Album | Southwestern Post-Match Interview | St. Thomas Post-Match Interview
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Southwestern and St. Thomas traded points throughout most of the first set when the Pirates' Emma White tallied a kill to give Southwestern a narrow 13-11 lead.
- From there the Pirates ended the first set on a 12-5 run to win the opening stanza 25-16. In the second set, Ashlynne Fitzgerald gave the Pirates a 10-6 lead with a kill. St. Thomas used a 10-2 run that pulled the Celts to within two at 18-16. The Pirates responded by closing out the set on a 7-2 run to go up 2-0 with 25-18 win.
- Set three saw St. Thomas race out to an early 5-1 lead after a kill by Paige Havel. A few points later the Celts extended the lead to 10-4 and then maintained multiple seven point leads before taking set three 25-20. The Pirates then took the match with a 25-16 victory in the fourth set.
- The two teams were evenly matched as both the Celts and Pirates each recorded 70 or more total digs during the match. The two teams also each tallied 45 or more kills.
- Southwestern hit .300 or better in each of their set wins while St. Thomas was held below a .200 hitting percentage in all four sets.
SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Emma White: 9 kills, 14 digs, 3 block assists
- Andie Valenzuela: 11 kills, .476 hitting percentage, 1 block solo
- Christina Kuras: 10 kills, .370 hitting percentage
- Lauren Crabtree: 10 kills, .318 hitting percentage
- Ali Grona: 16 digs, 3 assists
- Claire Romo: 23 assists, 9 digs
UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Paige Havel: 17 kills, 3 block assists, 1 block solo
- Alyssa Ajlouny: 9 kills, 23 digs
- Kelsie Walker: 29 assists, 13 digs
- Ally Peters: 13 digs, 4 assists
NOTABLES
- Southwestern hit .300 or better in each of their set wins while holding St. Thomas to a hitting percentage below .200 in all four sets.
- The Pirates improved to 3-0 against the Celts this season.
- Southwestern advances to the SCAC tournament semifinals for the 11th consecutive year.
- St. Thomas, appearing in its second SCAC postseason event, falls to 0-2 all time in the tournament.
- This was the first-ever meeting between the two schools in the SCAC tournament.
UP NEXT
Southwestern, currently ranked 16th in the latest AVCA national rankings, improves to 23-4 and advances to the semifinals to take on AVCA No. 7 and second-seeded Colorado College tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. CT. St. Thomas sees its season end with an 11-18 record.
