GEORGETOWN, TEXAS - Southwestern Volleyball lost a pair of five-set matches to conference opponents Schreiner and AVCA Ranked #11 Trinity on Saturday in the SCAC Crossover event.
The Pirates took on the Schreiner Mountaineers in an afternoon match on Saturday and were met with a challenge from a scrappy Mountaineers team, who gave conference opponents trouble all throughout the weekend.
Southwestern took the first set handily 25-16, the Pirates outhit Schreiner 15 kills to 5 but logged 10 errors in the set. A statistic that would come back to bite the Pirates later in the match.
Southwestern fell in the next two sets both by 25-20 margins. The Mountaineers took a 20-13 set lead in the second but the Pirates battled back to make it 20-22, however, it wouldn't be enough as Schreiner won the rest of the points to take the set win.
The errors reached double digits for the Pirates in the third while the Mountaineers hit effectively with only six in the stat column leading to another 20-25 win for Schreiner. The Pirates put together a six-point win in the fourth set, taking the Mountaineers to the final fifth set. Both teams went back and forth with each other in the fifth, but a final five-point run for the Mountaineers would be all they would need to get the win.
Southwestern emerged from the break for a Saturday evening game against the Trinity University Tigers in what was a thriller for the fans in the Robertson Center.
The Pirates stunned the Tigers in the latter part of the first set, coming all the way back from a 23-19 deficit to pull out a set win. In the second, Southwestern took the Tigers to extra points but were unable to secure another set win with Trinity winning by a 26-24 margin.
More excitement was to come as the Pirates felt a massive momentum shift in their favor late in the third set. The Pirate attack came to play when the Pirates needed it late in sets, killing points and sending the energy Southwestern's way.
With the adrenaline from an exciting volleyball match reaching its height in the third, Southwestern couldn't carry the pace into the fourth set and Trinity took a commanding 25-10 fourth-set win. The win was all the confidence Trinity needed to put a cap on a conference win, ultimately winning the fifth set, 15-11.
"Tonight was an elite college volleyball match and each program left everything they had on the court."
"After learning some things about our team earlier today. We put together a quality game plan and a lineup that put us in a position to compete at the highest level. The team and staff are very proud of this effort and execution from our team. We have some important areas to develop and grow. But, we will get back into the gym and get to work together," says Coach Don Flora.
Southwestern will head to The University of St. Thomas next weekend for two matches on Friday and Saturday against the Celts. The games will start at 6:30 PM and 1:00 PM respectively.
