RICHARDSON, Texas — Southwestern volleyball picked up two more wins at the UT-Dallas Fall Festival, defeating host Texas-Dallas and Carnegie Mellon to improve to 7-0. It's the Pirates' best start since winning their first 12 matches in the 2017 season.
"Getting two wins over very good, well-coached teams and making quality adjustments is satisfying," Southwestern head volleyball coach Don Flora says. "Seeing a team value playing point to point is easier said than done, and today this team stuck together and lived that out."
In Southwestern's first match of the day, Southwestern bested host Texas-Dallas in three sets (25-18, 25-22, 25-18). The Pirates got double-digit kills from right side Lauren Crabtree and outside hitter Christina Kuras.
Kuras posted 10 kills on a .231 hitting percentage. With another 11 kills in the second match against Carnegie Mellon, the freshman has reached double-digit kills in five of her first seven matches. Crabtree had 10 kills on a .381 hitting percentage.
Ali Grona led the Pirates with 19 digs, anchoring a defense that limited Texas-Dallas to 28 kills on a .069 percentage. Riley Brantley led Southwestern with three block attempts.
Southwestern utilized a balanced attack in the second match to win three consecutive sets in a 3-1 victory (21-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-20) over Carnegie Mellon. Four Pirates finished with double-digit kills, and Southwestern hit .242 as a team.
White led Southwestern with 18 kills on 49 attacks with five errors for a .265 hitting percentage. She also contributed a team-high three service aces and had a solo block for 22 points. Brantley had 14 kills on a .355 clip, Crabtree had 12 kills on an efficient .423 hitting percentage, and Kuras had 11 kills. Katelyn Whitehead and Claire Romo set the balanced attack with 27 and 26 assists.
"We continue to have our setters get the hitters into good swing patterns, and that offensive balance is shown by having four attackers in double-digit kills versus Carnegie Mellon," Flora says.
Defensively, reigning SCAC Defensive Player of the Week Ali Grona led the way with 28 digs. White contributed 21 digs.
"Today, we out dug both of our opponents, and seeing two players over 20 digs versus CMU is impressive," Flora says.
Southwestern will travel to San Antonio next weekend to compete in the Trinity University National Invitational. The Pirates will face Cal Lutheran and Chapman on Saturday, Sept. 18.
