SAN ANTONIO — The No. 16-ranked Southwestern Pirates volleyball team fell short in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Championship match, losing 3-1 to the No. 2-ranked Trinity Tigers.
In the previous two meetings between the teams, Southwestern raised its performance each match, learning how to play at the highest levels of NCAA Division III volleyball on the fly. On Sunday, it was Trinity that elevated its game, playing nearly flawless through the first two sets.
Trinity held Southwestern under .100 hitting in the first two sets, including a negative hitting percentage in the first, while hitting .294 and .258 to take the sets 25-11 and 25-15.
"Putting ourselves in this type of situation is exactly what we wanted. Yet, Trinity played as clean a volleyball match as they have all year," Southwestern head volleyball coach Don Flora says. "It took us a bit to calibrate and get our eyes on the right things. Once we did, it became a fantastic, competitive battle."
Southwestern came to life in the third set with a magnificent defensive performance, limiting the Tigers to single-digit kills with eight on a .139 hitting percentage to take the set 25-20. Southwestern battled Trinity on more equal footing, but fell just short in the fourth set, losing 25-23.
Emma White led Southwestern with 13 points, scoring 11 kills with 11 digs and two service aces. Lauren Crabtree had 12 kills on one block assist. Geneva Nedrow had another strong performance from the service line, recording four aces.
Southwestern hit just .079 as a team. Three Pirates finished with double-digit digs, led by Ali Grona's 22. Setters Katelyn Whitehead and Claire Romo combined for 36 assists.
"We did some really nice things from the service line again today. We just need to be a little bit more efficient in our attacking decisions in certain situations as an offensive team," Flora says. "There are opportunities that we could have capitalized on to get into a fifth set and see where that might have gotten us. In big matches, we need to be firing all cylinders. We haven't done that at the highest levels...yet."
Southwestern falls to 24-5 on the season. The Pirates have been firmly entrenched at No. 16 in the national rankings and fourth in Region X for several weeks. Southwestern will await its NCAA Tournament fate and news of an at-large bid with the NCAA selection show airing Monday at 11:30 a.m.
The SCAC All-Tournament Team was announced following Sunday's championship match:
- Sarah Williammee, Sr., RS, Trinity (MVP)
- Avery Tuggle, Sr., OH, Trinity
- Marisa Amarino, Jr., S, Trinity
- Emma White, Jr., OH, Southwestern
- Andie Valenzuela, So., MB, Southwestern
- Isabella Vasquez, Sr., OH, Colorado College
- Tanyse Moehrig-Woodard, So., OH, Texas Lutheran
