NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Southwestern rose to the occasion and proved their ranking with a pair of wins on Saturday. 

The Pirates opened the day with a morning match against #18 Christopher Newport. SU won the first two sets with their hard hitting offense, but trailed off in the next two, allowing CNU to even the score and force a fifth set. 

Southwestern returned to their old ways and posted a .312 attack percentage with no errors to take the match. 

After splitting the first two sets against a surprising Johns Hopkins team SU gutted out the third set 30-28 and pulled out the fourth as well to complete the weekend sweep. 

Southwestern (23-1) remains on the road to face Mary Hardin-Baylor for a mid-week match before returning to the final weekend of SCAC regular season play on Saturday in Kerrville. 

COACH FLORA ON THE WEEKEND

"Having three excellent teams to compete against was important for our growth and development as a team.  Our Middles were stellar verses Mary Washington last night and they helped us have a solid defensive match overall as a team.

Today verses Christopher Newport showed some real resolve and a real champion mindset as a team to get things done efficiently in the fifth set.  CNU is a very complete team with elite arms and they presented some real problems for us and it was key to see us respond to the demands of the match.

Johns Hopkins was a tough way to rebound right after the CNU match.  They do some real quality things with the speed of their offense and the way they choose to play.  So, having to come and dig deep and compete to pull out a quality victory was a positive for these women to see from one another.

This weekend will help us continue to understand the demands of the job in every match we play from here on out this season."

ANDIE ALFORD ON SATURDAY'S WINS

PIPER SISEMORE ON SATURDAY'S WINS