SHERMAN, Texas —Lauren Crabtree led Southwestern with her fifth triple-double of the season, scoring a match-high 14 kills on a blistering .400 hitting percentage to go with 15 assists and 14 digs as the Pirates defeated the Austin College volleyball team in four sets.
The Pirates had three players finish with double-digit kills, with Alex Grooms contributing 13 on a .500 clip, recording just one error in 24 attacks. Emma White had 10 kills on 31 attacks with five errors for a .161 hitting percentage.
Middle blocker Riley Brantley was also a force at the net, scoring nine kills on a .273 hitting percentage with a solo block and four block assists. Ashley Whitlock provided support, contributing three solo blocks.
In all, Southwestern recorded four solo blocks and eight block assists.
Southwestern set the tone early, holding Austin College to just nine kills on a .079 hitting percentage while posting a match-high 16 kills to take the first set 25-21. Austin College was far more efficient in the second set with 13 kills with just two errors for a match-high .333 hitting percentage to even the match with a 25-17 win in the second set.
The Pirates locked in to win the next two sets, recording 15 kills in the third set on a .256 clip in a 25-20 victory, then closed the match with their most efficient set, recording 13 kills on a .281 hitting percentage while Austin College committed eight attack errors for a .049 hitting percentage.
Southwestern hit .233 as a team with 57 kills. Katelyn Whitehead directed most of the attack with 28 assists and 13 digs. Ali Grona finished the match with a team-high 20 digs.
Austin College's Victoria Smith had a monster game with 12 digs on 23 attacks with just one error for a .478 hitting percentage, but she was the only Austin College player to finish with double-digit kills. The Kangaroos finished with 43 kills on a .144 hitting percentage, committing 22 attack errors.
Southwestern improves to 8-3 with the win. Austin College drops to 7-6. The two teams play another match at 7:00 p.m.
