GEORGETOWN, Texas - Southwestern played superbly on the defensive side the ball but split SCAC conference matches at home Saturday, defeating Austin College 3-0 before falling 3-1 to #10 Colorado College.
Southwestern opened the weekend against Austin College and got off to a slow start, falling behind 10-3 early in the first set. The Pirates quickly regrouped and pulled even 11-11 thanks to some great defensive hustle plays by Chandler Lentz.
The set remained tight the rest of the way until SU pulled away for the final four straight points to win 25-20.
The momentum swing stayed with the Pirates through the entire second set as they dominated and never gave the 'Roos even a glimmer of hope, closing out set two with a 25-10 victory to lead 2-0.
As the third set got underway it was clear that Austin College still had fight left in them as they battled the Pirates and hung close. With the match tied 11-11 AC went on a run to pull ahead 14-11, but after an SU timeout Southwestern charged back to pull even once again 15-15. The lead seesawed back and forth until Southwestern seized control 22-21 and closed out the set 25-22 for the 3-0 match win.
Southwestern hit .293 as a team and held Austin College to just .055. Kaitlyn Foster led offensively with 15 kills and a .424 attack percentage. Meredith Rollins added in 10 kills. Defensively SU was led by Lentz's 16 digs and was followed closely by Macey Pool and Foster who had 14 and 13 respectively. Lacey Strickland recorded 26 assists while Nikki Welch added in 17 in the win.
The most anticipated match of the day was also the final one for the Pirates as they faced #10 Colorado College and it didn't disappoint as both teams brought their "A" games to the court. Colorado started off hot with a .308 attack percentage and took advantage of the Pirates' hitting errors to win the first set relatively easy, 25-14.
Southwestern's resolve continued to strengthen through the second set as they improved their attack percentage by nearly .100, but still fell 25-18.
SU finally turned the corner in the third set and outworked the Tigers on the defensive side to pull out a 25-20 win to keep the match alive.
The fourth and final set was a nail-biter as both teams chipped away at each other. Southwestern pulled out to an early lead but Colorado quickly pulled back even 5-5 and the teams matched points through 14-14 and neither team was able to pull away by more than two points the rest of the way. In the end Colorado edged out the Pirates to win the set 25-23 and game 3-1.
Southwestern falls to 11-6 on the year with the split and 3-2 in the SCAC while Colorado stays undefeated at 17-0 and 5-0. The Pirates return to the court at home on Sunday, facing Centenary at noon and the University of Dallas at 4 p.m. at home.
