Before conference play, Southwestern Volleyball held a 3-6 record, playing a pre-conference schedule that included the toughest and highest ranked teams in the country. Southwestern's record did not represent their level of competitiveness, frequently taking high-level opponents to fifth sets only to just miss out on a victory. 

The Pirates opened up conference play against a skilled 10-3 Texas Lutheran Bulldog team. The Pirates and the Bulldogs traded sets throughout the match, ultimately ending in a fifth set match yet again for the Pirates. 

But the Pirates would come out of a fifth set victorious for the first time this season, beating the Bulldogs 15-7. Senior outside-hitter Emma White had an unbelievable match hitting the ball, going for 23 kills, a .316 hitting percentage, and only five errors. It's possible to say the Pirates would not have won the match without White, not only was she extremely efficient on offense but White also had 22 digs, one solo block, and a service ace. Senior middle-blocker Riley Brantley was also very productive in her hitting, adding 12 kills and with an over .400 hitting percentage (.423). 

Going into conference play every game is important and Head Coach Don Flora liked what he saw from his team, "Seeing this entire program dig in together and battle to find a way; pulling away and dominating the fifth set over a very solid and complete TLU squad has a lot of meaning." 

But only an hour later, the Pirates had to do it all over again against the St. Thomas Celts who were 10-2 headed into the match, coming off a loss to TLU. 

The Pirates opened with a hard-fought 25-23 win in the first set, however, the Celts would come right back in the second set and beat the Pirates, 25-21. 

Getting their feet back underneath them after a tough first match, the Pirates went on to beat St. Thomas in the next two sets 25-17, 25-17. Emma White's hitting streak didn't end with the Bulldogs, she extended it into the match against St. Thomas by racking up 22 kills and a deadly .362 hitting percentage while also playing great defense again with 16 digs. White's fantastic two-match performance landed her another career milestone, putting her to over 1,000 kills in her career. 

Geneva Nedrow steadied the Pirates on the defensive end in the third and fourth sets with 25 digs for the match helping the Pirates limit the St. Thomas offense. Christina Kuras added 11 kills to the Pirates' total with help from Claire Romo and Annika Flora who had 16 and 21 assists respectively. 

"The staff was impressed how the team handled coming back on a quick turnaround and defeating an athletic and strong offense in St. Thomas. The two wins make it an even more memorable day with senior Emma White eclipsing the 1,000-kill mark for her career.  She now is over 1,000 in digs and kills as Pirate." says Don Flora. 

The Pirates take a short break from conference play, making the drive down to Austin to face the Concordia Tornadoes on Tuesday, September 27th a 6:00 PM. 

Photo by Carlos Barron