COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Third-seeded Colorado College came out hot and despite a game effort from second-seeded and defending tournament champion Texas Lutheran to get back into Friday evening's final semifinal match, the Tigers kept their foot on the gas and earned the 3-0 victory to advance to tomorrow's championship match at Corbin J. Robertson Center on the campus of Southwestern. Official Championships Website | Photo Album | Tournament Stats | Interview w/ Colorado College Head Coach Sharon Dingman and first-year middle blocker Coco Barton
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Colorado College posted back-to-back +.300 attack sets, hitting at a .302 clip in set one and .324 in the second to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
- Texas Lutheran tightened their defense in the third set, and served for the set at 25-24, however, CC got back-to-back kills from Isabella Lipacis and the match clincher from Keeley Kandziora to take the 27-25 third set win.
- The score was tied 11 times in the third set and the lead exchanged hands five more.
COLORADO COLLEGE STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Isabella Lipacis: 18 kills, .302 attack percentage, 24 digs, 2 assists, 1 service ace, 2 block assists
- Carolyn Dormandy: 8 kills, 12 digs, 2 service aces
- Keeley Kandziora: 8 kills, 11 digs, 2 block assists
- Jenny Jenks: 43 assists, 13 digs, 1 block solo, 1 block assist
- Coco Barton: 8 kills, .421 attack percentage, 4 block assists, 3 digs
- Brooke Brilliant: 8 kills, .294 attack percentage, 3 digs, 2 service aces, 1 block assist
TEXAS LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Brylie Nedd: 10 kills, 5 digs
- Shavonne Respondek: 6 kills, 10 assists, 10 digs
- Tanyse Moehrig: 7 kills, 7 digs
- Victoria Powell: 7 kills
- Julia Chew: 16 assists, 12 digs
NOTABLES
- After Texas Lutheran swept the regular season series between the two, defeating the Tigers 3-2 on Sept. 23 (on this same floor) and 3-2 on Oct. 13, Colorado College won when it mattered the most, sweeping the Bulldogs to advance to Saturday's title match.
- Colorado College is in the SCAC championship match for the second consecutive year and 10th time overall. The Tigers are 6-3 in their previous championship appearances.
- Tonight's semifinal match was a rematch from last season's championship match where Texas Lutheran defeated Colorado College, 3-1, on CC's home court to earn its first-ever SCAC volleyball title. The two also met in the third place match at the 2021 championship, the last year the conference played a consolation match. CC won that match, 3-1.
- After tonight's victory, Colorado College holds a 6-1 advantage over Texas Lutheran in SCAC tournament match-ups.
- TLU's loss guarantees there will not be a repeat tournament winner. The last team to win back-to-back SCAC volleyball tournament titles was Colorado College in 2017 and 2018.
UP NEXT
With the win, Colorado College improves to 18-10 and will square off against top-seeded and AVCA 13th-ranked Trinity (27-4) in tomorrow morning's SCAC championship match. First serve is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT. This will be the sixth time the two SCAC powerhouses have met with the conference tournament title on the line and CC is 4-1 in those previous match-ups, including a 3-1 victory in their last championship meeting in the spring of 2021. CC leads the all-time tournament series with Trinity, 5-3. Texas Lutheran ends its season with a 22-8 overall record.
