SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Southwestern volleyball continued their strong play on Saturday afternoon at the Trinity National Invitational, defeating East Texas Baptist 3-0 and a very talented #9 Wisconsin-Platteville 3-1. The wins improve SU to 3-0 on the season.
After a slow start in set one against East Texas Baptist but the Pirates ramped up the attack and ran away, winning 25-15 on a kills by Allison Stubbs. ETBU came out strong in the second set and built up a 3-0 lead. SU buckled down and scored seven straight to take the lead 7-4 after an ace by Sarai Tenerrelli. The Tigers fought back and got back in the game, pulling the game even 13-13. SU went back on the attack and scored four straight to regain the lead 17-13. ETBU was never closer than four points as the Pirates closed out the set 25-20.
It was much of the same in the third set but Southwestern was too strong for the Tigers as the Pirates won 25-19.
Stubbs had another huge game with 22 kills, a new Southwestern record for a three-set match.
The win put the Pirates in the right mindframe for their toughest match so far this season, and one of the toughest they will face all year, in #9 Wisconsin-Plateville. It was apparent early that this match was going to be a dog fight, but Southwestern was able to jump out to an early lead in the first set, going up 9-4. The Pirates led the majority of the match until UWP was able to pull even 24-24 and eventually took the lead for the first time, 25-24 on an SU error. The Pioneers won the next point to steal set one from the Pirates.
The second set saw the Pioneers jump out to an early lead, but Southwestern fought back quick and the two teams traded points and the lead throughout the majority of the set. SU scored five straight points late in the match to take a 19-17 lead and built from there to win 26-24.
Set three continued as the first two with neither team able to pull ahead by more than three points. Southwestern was first to the finish, however, winning the set 25-23 to go up 2-1.
In the fourth and final set UWP seemed to have control, but the Pirates' tied the set 10-10 on a kill by Rachel Thibodeau. It was back and forth the rest of the way with no breathing room for error and SU won the final point on a Pioneer mistake.
Stubbs, who was named to the All-Tournament team, led the attack once again with 19 kills while Lindsay Thompson added in 12 and Jill Wigington had 10. Christina Nicholls recorded 39 assists on the night.
Southwestern continues their tough competition as they head to Thousand Oaks, CA for four games, two against nationally-ranked opponents, at the Cal-Lu-fornia Invitational beginning on September 9th.
