SHERMAN, Texas – The #20 Southwestern volleyball team finished up conference play strong with a 4-0 weekend sweep in the second West/East crossover at Austin College.

Southwestern opened the tournament against Sewanee and swept them in straight sets, 25-5, 25-13, 25-9. The Pirates' deep bench provided a very balanced attack to help defeat the Tigers. First-year Meredith Rollins led the team in kills with 7 followed closely by junior Mariad Cocke with 6. First-year Courtney Cash notched 28 assists for the match while first-year Allison Stubbs tallied 7 aces.

The Pirates then faced the tough Tigers of DePauw University. DePauw edged past Southwestern in the back-and-forth first set, 29-27. The Pirates fought back to completely control the Tigers in the second set, 25-13. Southwestern continued this streak to win set 3, 25-16. DePauw pressured the Pirates to take set 4, 25-17, and force a fifth set. Both teams battled for control in the final set, exchanging leads throughout. Southwestern finally edged past Depauw to win the match, 15-12. Stubbs and senior Lauren Brown combined for over half the team's kills with 15 a piece. Junior Christina Nicholls led the team with 51 assists while sophomore Annie Hutson had 15 digs. Junior Lindsay Thompson led the Pirates in blocks for the match with 4.

Southwestern opened day two against Centre, who forced the Pirates to 5 sets previously in the season. In this match-up, however, the Pirates swept the Colonels in straight sets, 25-14, 25-10, 25-13. Sophomore Rachel Thibodeau led the attack with 10 kills while Stubbs contributed to the win with 9. Nicholls had 31 assists on the match while Hutson recorded 19 digs.

The final match for the Pirates in SCAC conference play pitted them against long-time rival Trinity University. Southwestern edged out a win in a 5 set battle when they faced the Tigers earlier this season. Running off the momentum from the first match of the day, Southwestern swept Trinity in 3 sets, 25-21, 25-22, and 25-16. Brown led the Pirate offense with 9 kills while Nicholls totaled 28 assists and Thompson led the team with 2 blocks. Thibodeau had a positive performance overall with 7 kills, 8 digs, and 5 service aces.

Southwestern will head back to Sherman for the Austin College tournament on October 23^rd to take on East Texas Baptist University at 10 AM and the University of Dallas at 12 PM.