In the moments before the No. 14-ranked Southwestern volleyball team took the court for the program's first NCAA Tournament match since 2017, head coach Don Flora watched his team with not only appreciation for where the Pirates were but how they got there. 

"In the locker room before the first match, there was just this sense of teammates taking care of teammates, Pirates taking care of Pirates," Flora recalls. "We talked all year about our good being good enough. If we played our brand of volleyball long enough, we were going to win a lot of matches. So the team trusted in that and communicated it to each other." 

Southwestern looked right at home in the NCAA Tournament despite it being the first appearance for every student-athlete on the roster, defeating Washington and Lee 3-1 in the opening round. 

"It just felt really good to finally perform to our potential," junior outside hitter Emma White says. "Being in the NCAA Tournament and getting that experience for our seniors was amazing." 

The moment resulted from four years of hard work that began with seniors Taylor Baccus, Lauren Crabtree, Ali Grona, Wren Seabolt, Darby Stowers, and Ashley Whitlock, who ended their collegiate careers on their best season. But the win against Washington and Lee isn't so much a culmination of things as it is the natural progression of a program continuously ascending.

When the current senior class arrived in 2018, the roster had two healthy seniors, two juniors who were a semi-regular part of the rotation, and no sophomores. For three years, the Pirates were one of the youngest teams in the SCAC with no senior class during last spring's COVID-shortened season. 

The team advanced to the SCAC Championship match in 2018 and the semifinals in 2019 but could not overcome Colorado College in either year or breakthrough with an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. 

"Coming into the program, we started ranked in the top 15 and slowly found our way out of the rankings," Grona recalls. "We went through a rebuilding phase a little bit, but then we got to a point where we weren't losing any pieces; we were just adding them." 

In 2019, Southwestern added rotation mainstays in middle blocker Riley Brantley, setter Katelyn Whitehead, and outside hitters Jessica Kuras and Emma White. However, injuries prevented Whitlock from recapturing her all-conference form from 2018. And Whitehead was in and out of the lineup over the next two seasons. 

In their absences, Brantley emerged as an all-conference middle and Crabtree a do-it-all, all-the-time star who led the nation in triple-doubles in the spring of 2021. It was enough to help the Pirates win seven of their final eight matches that season, including a complete win in the quarterfinals match against Texas Lutheran.  Southwestern Volleyball was eager and focused for more success.

"On Day 1 of practice, you could just tell there was a different vibe and focus," Flora says. "The level of talent from all 19 athletes and the experience on our roster gave us all a taste of how good we could be." 

Southwestern showed resilience in its season opener, overcoming early errors to win a five-set match against Concordia. But it wasn't until the following weekend's trip to Tacoma, Washington, for the Puget Sound Premier that the team got a first-hand look at how special it was, defeating Pacific Lutheran, Puget Sound, and Whitman. 

"I think the first weekend in Washington, coming off that five-set nailbiter against Concordia to beat an excellent Pacific Lutheran team and seeing how much we grew from one game to the next gave us confidence," White says. "We knew we could beat these teams. Then, when we had a similar performance the next weekend at the University of Texas at Dallas, we knew we were onto something special." 

Southwestern swept its matches at the University of Texas at Dallas Fall Festival, defeating UT-Dallas, Carnegie Mellon, and Aurora.  Then the next weekend added two signature wins over Cal Lutheran, and Chapman.

"After Washington, we'd started receiving votes in the national polls," Grona recalls. "Then, after our second preseason tournament, I remember telling my parents this was a special team."  

After opening the season 7-0, Southwestern broke into the national rankings for the first time since the 2018 preseason rankings, earning a spot at No. 22. 

Crabtree found strength in a more focused role, earning Trinity Invitational All-Tournament honors with 22 kills on a .364 hitting percentage in two matches. The senior right-side hitter went on to earn her third all-conference award with an All-SCAC Second Team selection, finishing the season with 294 kills on a .211 hitting percentage with 92 digs and 57 blocks. 

"We've asked a lot of Lauren the previous three years, and this year we were able to solidify a more direct, understood role where she focused on being the best attacker and blocker she could be," Flora explains. 

"When I talked about adding more pieces, it allowed Lauren to put more energy into her hitting, which helped us out tremendously," Grona adds. 

Crabtree was able to step into a more specialized role because of the return of Whitehead and the addition of freshman setter Claire Romo, who split duties directing the Southwestern offense, combining for 1,269 assists, and adding teeth to the Pirate defense with a combined 557 digs. 

"Katie hadn't consistently played for a long time, and Claire grew up in front of our eyes," Flora says. "Our setting and defense behind the block got better as the year went along. Our right-side/zone 1 defense was some of the best in the region, which is a tribute to Katie and Claire learning new things and taking control of their job running the offense and playing defense." 

Combine their play with Ali Grona's 647 digs and 114 assists, and the Pirates finished 16th in the nation in assists per set at 12.5 and 15th in digs per set at 19.44. In addition, Grona finished eighth in the country in total digs and 31st in digs per set at 5.44, earning two SCAC Defensive Player of the Week awards and an All-SCAC Second Team selection. 

"She just has excellent instincts for the ball defensively and a high IQ for what's happening in front of her," Flora says. "She was able to slow the game down a little bit, and things got clearer for her. When you see the game and know what's happening in front of you, it makes things smooth, and while she was a high-level defender she really worked at simplifying her mechanics and movements to become a high-level receiver." 

Brantley remained steady, posting her third consecutive All-SCAC selection with Third Team honors. The junior from League City, Texas, totaled 217 kills on a .253 hitting percentage with a career-high 93 blocks and 34 service aces. And the middle was bolstered by sophomore Andie Valenzuela's breakthrough season, recording 245 kills on a blistering .327 hitting percentage with 64 blocks. 

"Riley has been such a key piece of our offense that people started to understand her tendencies, but she still hit for a high percentage, got better defensively, and became our go-to serving middle," Flora says. "Andie committed to her offseason last summer and maybe made the most progress of anyone. Her ability to see the game at a high level is a good trait blocking-wise and offensively." 

The Pirates' leadership and culture started integrating a promising freshman class, making for some potent lineup combinations as the season progressed.

The Pirates reeled off 10 consecutive wins to start the season before dropping their first match 3-2 on the road to a Colorado College team ranked No. 4 at the time. Then, Southwestern put together another winning streak, reaching nine matches before losing 3-2 in an epic home match against No. 3 Trinity. 

"First, it was just having these juniors and seniors who had played a lot of volleyball together and building that trust in the person next to them that helped us," Flora says about his team's early success. "It took us a while to figure out our roles as juniors and seniors because they hadn't played with any for a while, but they took care of each other, and it was cool to see their work with our younger players and see these ingredients all mix together." 

Freshman outside hitter Christina Kuras hit the ground running, notching double-digit kills in six of her first eight matches and finishing with 269 kills on a .177 hitting percentage with 63 digs and 32 blocks. 

"Christina put together one of the best freshman years this program has seen in a few years," White says. "She handled the expectations that were placed on her well." 

When Southwestern paired Kuras with her older sister Jessica, the two sisters brought a sense of joy and family that can't be replicated.

"Jessica was the person I'd turn to when things were getting intense to remind me this is fun and to stay in the moment. She kept me grounded, and that's why she was so good in big games," Grona says of her teammate who recorded 13 and 10 kills against Trinity and Colorado College. "And Christina did such a great job of stepping into a big role in our offense as a freshman." 

While Kuras provided power and Romo helped direct the offense, defensive specialist Geneva Nedrow added a new dimension to Southwestern's defensive back row, totaling 287 digs and 38 service aces. 

"Geneva, Claire, and Christina stepped in and played some major roles and did what we needed them to do," Flora says. "We asked a lot of them, and I think the coaching staff and their teammates trusted them. We talked a lot about trust and the Pirate culture, and by the end of the year, they felt welcome as equals. Once you're here, you're family." 

Tying a lot of it together was the play of White, a six-rotation junior whose all-around game unlocked many different things for the Pirates. White led Southwestern with 353 kills on a .179 hitting percentage while also contributing 406 digs, 31 blocks, and 48 service aces. 

"She was our do-it-all person. I depended on her. Our setters depended on her. She truly is an amazing teammate," Grona says. "There'd be times in games where I didn't think I could keep going anymore, and there Emma is jumping in the front row while playing all six rotations."

White overwhelmed opponents with volume and utility. Where most elite outside hitters thrive in a highly-specialized role, White succeeded with a solid all-around game. If her hitting percentage wasn't as efficient as others at the top of the conference, it's because her teammates trusted her to put down kills from all over the volleyball court, taking sets out of system and booming points from the back row as often as the front. 

"Every team needs a person who does what we call, taking out the trash. That is, the unsung hard work where we're in a long rally or a broken play and they're going to get the ball that's not as perfect as other people might get," Flora explains. "We're asking her to do so many things that we had to limit her jump serving at the beginning of the year to save her legs in longer matches." 

White took on a blue-collar role and was recognized for playing it at a superstar level, earning First Team All-SCAC honors, the SCAC Elite 19 award, AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention, and the NCAA Regionals All-Tournament Team. 

"It was nice to see all the work I've put in since my freshman year was rewarded, but at the end of the day, it's the team performance that was recognized," White says. "If we weren't performing well as a unit, we wouldn't be in the conversation for individual awards." 

Every aspect of the team came into focus in the semifinals against Colorado College, getting double-digit kills from three Pirates and double-digit digs from four, limiting two-time SCAC Player-of-the-Year Georgia Mullins to a .091 hitting percentage. 

"It was a great moment because we hadn't beaten them in my four years. We'd beaten Trinity but never Colorado College," Grona exclaims. "We'd been building all season toward the conference tournament, and it was our third chance to beat a team ranked higher than us, and we finally broke through. I might have shed a few tears." 

Altogether, Southwestern only lost four matches all season, and all to teams ranked higher nationally. In each of those losses, Southwestern showed the capacity to raise its game on the fly, learning as each match went to reach the level of its opponent up until dropping its last set against No. 12-ranked Berry. 

"We talk about leaving the program better than we found it, and we ended the season ranked 14th," Grona says. "That's a nationally elite program, and it took all of us working together, so I'm grateful to everyone who contributed to that." 

Watching his team competing in the NCAA Tournament, Flora wouldn't have it any other way than the Pirate way.