GEORGETOWN – A late surge from the Southwestern University volleyball team helped propel the Pirates past Hardin-Simmons in an exciting 3-2 win Friday night in non-conference action.

Southwestern improved to 23-9 on the year after honoring four seniors as Hardin-Simmons fell to 19-12 overall. The Pirates earned the 21-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-16, 15-12 win in front of an energetic home crowd on senior night.

Hardin-Simmons held off the Pirates in the first set before Southwestern rallied to even the match at one set apiece.

Lorin Froetschel paced the Pirates as the senior finished the night with a blistering .370 hitting percentage and led SU with a team-high 11 kills. Froetschel also helped on the defensive side of the net adding four blocks for Southwestern.

After the Pirates raced out to an early lead and held off an eventual late rally from the Cowgirls in the fourth set, both team continued to battle in the thrilling fifth set.

Southwestern raced out to an early 7-2 lead in the deciding set as Olivia Drummond and Froetschel paced the Pirates. However, the Cowgirls kept with the theme of the night fighting back to tie the match at 7-7.

The 5-0 run for HSU was ended by a Riley Caskey kill at the break giving the Pirates an 8-7 lead. The Cowgirls continued to battle back again tying the game at 10-10 before Southwestern finally broke loose.

The Pirates took advantage of HSU miscues while adding a match-high .286 hitting percentage in the final set. Setter Nikki Welch ran the offense in impressive fashion ending her night with a double-double. Welch added 41 assists and 17 digs in the Pirate win.

Southwestern closes out action Saturday against Concordia (Tex.) at 3:30 p.m. and Mary Hardin-Baylor in the nightcap at 6 p.m.