Colorado Springs, Colo. – The Southwestern University Pirates volleyball team's young hitters showed some promise in their match against fifth-ranked Colorado College but dropped the match in three sets (23-25, 22-25, 19-25).
Freshmen Alyssa Dooley and Lauren Crabtree combined for 23 kills and, more importantly, showed some improvements in efficiency.
Dooley tied Jamison Duck with a team-high 13 kills on 33 attacks with just four errors for a .273 clip while Crabtree had 10 kills and only three errors on 28 attacks to finish with a .250 hitting percentage.
"It was a battle of two high-quality volleyball programs. There were many opportunities for us early in the match but you have to give Colorado College credit for executing when they needed to," Head Coach Don Flora said. "We did a number of good things offensively, now we need to be a little better defensively at the net."
The Pirates jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead to start the match, taking advantage of early Colorado attack errors and four kills by four different hitters. Colorado came storming back with 19 kills to take the first set, finishing with a blistering .326 hitting percentage as a team for the set.
Both teams battled to a 22-22 tie in the second set before Colorado College reeled off three consecutive points, getting a kill each from Margo Spaethling and Lizzy Counts and a service ace from Haley Harris.
Duck finished with a 13-kill, 12-dig double-double but committed seven attack errors and finished with a .150 hitting percentage. Brandi Campos led the team with a match-high 18 digs and a service ace.
Counts was a defensive terror for Colorado College, tying Anna Gurolnick with a team-high 15 digs while assisting on three blocks. Margo Spaethling lead a balanced attack with nine kills and no errors, hitting .529 as Colorado finished with 41 kills to just 13 errors on 121 attacks for a .281 hitting percentage.
With the third loss to a nationally ranked opponent over a four-game stretch, the Pirates drop to 9-10 on the season and 5-3 in conference play. Colorado College improves to 21-2 and 8-1 in conference play.