SHERMAN, Texas — Lauren Crabtree had a career-high seven aces and the Southwestern University Pirates volleyball team utilized a balanced attack to defeat the Austin College Kangaroos in three sets on their home court.
Southwestern had a 40-25 advantage in kills spread out through six players with no one finishing with more than nine as the Pirates hit .227 as a team.
"It was nice to see our entire team be emotionally prepared to compete against the quality Austin College volleyball team today," Head Coach Don Flora said. "It was nice to see a well-balanced offense from [setters] Jess Mayer and Lauren Crabtree today.
"And we did a very nice job behind the service line throughout all three three sets. This is a sign of quality overall growth in the serving game."
The Pirates finished with 12 service aces, using the serve to keep Austin College off balance, limiting the Kangaroos to a .066 hitting percentage.
Austin College had 12 kills in the first set but had to work at a high volume to get them, scoring on 43 attacks with eight errors as the Pirates took the first set 25-17.
Emma White and Darby Stowers set the Pirates' block, teaming up for four block assists each, and the Pirates had 55 digs with two in double figures to limit Austin College to a .066 hitting percentage for the match.
Karson Dykes led Austin College with six kills but needed 30 attacks with six errors to get it, hitting .000 for the match. Shelbi Cook had five kills on a .167 clip.
"We did a great job defensively against their middles and overall versus their attackers today," Flora said.
Crabtree led the Pirates with 14.0 points, recording a team-high nine kills on a team-high .300 hitting percentage with five digs, 14 assists, and the seven aces. White had 10.0 points with seven kills, 11 digs, and four block assists.
Elleanna McGown had a team-high 15 digs and seven kills on a .294 hitting percentage. Ali Grona had nine digs, three assists, and three aces.
With the win, the Pirates improve to 18-11 on the season and 11-5 in conference play. The Pirates will wrap up regular season conference play tomorrow with matches against JWU (Denver) and Trinity University.