SHERMAN, Texas – The #21 Southwestern Pirates volleyball team came up victorious with a weekend sweep of out of conference teams at the Austin College Invitational.

The Pirates opened the weekend against the Tigers of East Texas Baptist University. ETBU began the match loud and resiliant, causing Southwestern to drop their lead and edge out the Pirates in set 1, 22-25. Southwestern came back strong to take set 2, 25-18 and completely dominated set 3, 25-7.

The momentum from the substantial win carried the Pirates in set 4 to close out the match, 25-16. Junior Lindsay Thompson led the attack for the Pirates with 14 kills and was followed closely by junior Jill Wigington with 13. Solid defensive showings from sophomore Annie Hutson with 27 digs, sophomore Rachel Thibodeau with 24, and first-year Allison Stubbs with 24 also aided in the Pirate victory. Junior Christina Nicholls notched 48 assists for the match.

The final match of the weekend pitted Southwestern against the University of Dallas, who will be joining the SCAC next year. The Pirates swept Dallas, 25-21, 25-19, 25-11. Stubbs led the team in kills and digs with 10 in each category, followed by Thibodeau with 8 kills and 9 digs. Hutson also had 9 digs on the match while Nicholls tallied 26 assists.

Southwestern will host their annual Halloween Tounrnament this weekend, taking on the University of Texas- Tyler at 3 PM and #5 Eastern at 7 PM on Friday, October 29^th. The Pirates will close out their last home games of the 2010 season the following day, playing St. Thomas at 12 PM and Texas Lutheran University at 6 PM.