COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Southwestern volleyball's undefeated start came to a halt in the second of two matches today, but not before the No. 18-ranked Pirates went point-for-point with No. 4 Colorado College on their home court.
"Everyone in the gym had the opportunity to see two quality teams play a lot of clean volleyball for a long period of time," Southwestern head volleyball coach Don Flora says. "There is a lot to learn and grow from within this match for Southwestern volleyball."
Match 1: Southwestern 3, TLU 1 (25-16, 25-22, 18-25, 25-17)
Emma White led Southwestern with 14 kills on a .194 hitting percentage and contributed 10 digs as the Pirate attack grew strong over the final two sets. Riley Brantley had eight kills on a .250 clip and served three aces with two block assists. Andie Valenzuela had six kills, a solo block, and a block assist.
"Emma got better as the match progressed, and our middles did a nice job offensively," Flora says.
Ali Grona had 12 digs to anchor a defense that held TLU to a .098 hitting percentage, including two sets with a negative hitting percentage. Katelyn Whitehead had 19 assists, and Claire Romo had 19.
"Getting a quality win over Texas Lutheran was important today. We did a nice job finishing sets as an offensive team and put a lot of pressure on them from our service line," Flora says. "It showed in holding them under .100 in hitting percentage as a team."
Match 2: Southwestern 1, Colorado College 3 (25-21, 29-31, 21-25, 22-25)
Southwestern opened the match between two nationally-ranked teams with a first-set victory, scoring 18 kills on a .295 hitting percentage. The Pirates opened up a brief 17-13 lead in the second set, but Colorado College stormed back, overtaking Southwestern for a 31-29 win to even the match, taking the next two in hard-fought sets.
"This match versus Colorado College is a true sign of the progress and hard work this team has put into the season so far. We had a couple of opportunities to be up 2-0," Flora says. "Those are the moments you want to see your clean volleyball happen. We showed a lot of toughness in that second set."
Riley Brantley was phenomenal with 18 kills on a .457 hitting percentage and a strong performance setting the block with three block assists and a solo block. Andie Valenzuela further emphasized Southwestern's strength in the middle, scoring 12 kills on a .476 hitting percentage.
"Andie Valenzuela and Riley Brantley both hit over .450 and made plays in crunch time," Flora says. "Riley tied the match-high in kills with 18, which is an impressive amount of kills in four sets. Today is a good sign for what we are trying to do in our offense."
Southwestern had 66 kills to Colorado College's 62 but committed 10 more errors with 25. Isabella Lipacis led Colorado College with 18 kills, and Georgia Mullins had 17.
"We made a few more attack errors than Colorado College, and that was the small margin today," Flora says. "We can control that in the future."
After splitting the day's matches, Southwestern improves to 10-1 with a 1-1 conference record. The Pirates will wrap up their weekend in Colorado tomorrow against St. Thomas.
