AUSTIN, Texas – Emma White's 15-kill, 10-dig double-double performance paced the Southwestern University volleyball team to a convincing 3-1 (25-17, 25-19, 25-27, 25-14) victory over Concordia Texas on Tuesday evening.
Southwestern evened its record to 6-6 with the victory over Concordia while the Tornados dropped to 6-6 with the loss.
The Pirates jumped out to an early 10-4 lead in the first set thanks to staunch play on the defensive side of the ball forcing Concordia to commit seven errant points including five attack errors.
Southwestern shifted into cruise control from that point on throughout the first stanza by not allowing the Tornados to get any closer than four on three separate occasions.
Leading 21-17 late in the first set, Southwestern used a pair of kills by White and Riley Brantley, an attack error from Concordia, and a service ace from Geneva Nedrow for the set win.
Southwestern's defense forced Concordia into a negative hitting percentage for the first set going for -.027 with seven kills and eight errors on 37 attack attempts while the Pirates hit at a .250 clip on 13 kills with just five errors in 32 attempts.
The second set was a see-saw affair for the first 16 serves with neither team able to distance themselves from the other until a pair of White kills gave Southwestern a 10-8 lead.
White committed a pair of attack errors to bring Concordia to within 24-19 but as all good attackers do, she brushed the previous two points off a planted the next point on the opposition side for the 25-19 second set win.
The third set saw neither team able to fully take control as numerous ties and lead changes as well as small runs being answered by the other with points of their own.
Down by a 24-20 tally, Southwestern was able to rattle off four consecutive set points by the Tornados thanks to kills by White, Brantley and Kacy Miller and a block by Brantley and Alex Husen in that order.
With the third set score tied at 25-25, Concordia was able to get a pair of kills to close out the third stanza at 27-25.
Southwestern jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the fourth before Concordia blitzed back on an 8-2 run to take an 8-7 lead, which would be a short-lived lead.
The Pirates answered back by sailing out to a commanding 25-14 set victory thanks to an 18-6 run that was spurred on by four kills from White and a pair out of Miller, who had five kills for the match while attacking at a .455 clip.
Claire Romo (22) and Annika Flora (19) paced the offense from the setter position with 41 of Southwestern's 46 assists.
Abi Benavides and Nedrow led the staunch defensive effort by the Pirates with 20 and 19 digs, respectively.
Coach Don Flora's thoughts after the match: "This team and this group of strong and powerful women stuck together and took care of one another in a solid four-set win over a quality Concordia Tornado program. This team continues to support one another at a high level."
UP NEXT
Southwestern closed out non-conference play with tonight's victory and will welcome in Austin, Centenary (La.) and Dallas for a trio of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference battles this weekend.
The Pirates will face off against Austin on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. CDT, Centenary (La.) at 6 p.m. also on Saturday before closing out the SCAC weekend with a 12:15 p.m. CDT contest on Sunday with Dallas inside the Robertson Center.
