COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Despite a slow start against nationally ranked Trinity that ended in a four-set loss, the Southwestern University women's volleyball team salvaged a split with a 3-1 victory over Schreiner University at Colorado College's El Pomar Sports Center.
Southwestern 3 – Schreiner 1 (25-7, 22-25, 25-19, 25-17)
Southwestern (10-7, 6-1 SCAC) used one of the best single set hitting performances in all of NCAA Division III this season when the Pirates blistered the ball at a .667 rate when they tallied 17 kills with just one error in 24 attacks.
"We jumped out and put the hammer down on Schreiner," stated Southwestern head coach Don Flora. "Hitting .667 in set one is impressive, but we also knew Schreiner is getting so much better right now as the season progresses. Having a number of my players step up and contribute continues to show how deep this team is and how much this team has their teammates' back."
Schreiner (7-11, 2-5 SCAC) did show improvement from an abysmal -.043 first set hitting percentage and won the second set behind a .135 hitting percentage and holding the Pirates to just hit at a .105 clip.
The Mountaineers battled back from a 16-14 second set deficit to string together a few runs and used its defense to force a handful of errors by Southwestern to finish the second set on an 11-6 run.
As Flora stated, the Pirates had each other's back and came together in the third and fourth sets in true teammate fashion with five hitters having at least eight kills including Riley Brantley, Emma White and Alex Husen with 10 each. Christina Kuras added nine while Lily McWhorter chipped in eight.
White added 14 digs to complete her ninth kill-dig double-double of the season and the 36th of her career as a Pirate.
Geneva Nedrow was a close second in digs with 14 as Southwestern won the battle of digs with 58 compared to Schreiner's 46.
Claire Romo and Annika Flora paced the Southwestern offense by dishing out 21 and 17 assists, respectively.
The tale of the tape, however, was the outstanding play at the net by the Pirates who registered 6 solo blocks and 14 block assists to help force the Mountaineers into an overall hitting percentage of .054 for the match.
Trinity 3 – Southwestern 1 (25-20, 25-19, 18-25, 26-24)
Southwestern's opening match of the day was against a staunch opponent in nationally ranked Trinity (15-2, 7-0 SCAC), who came out hot by hitting 35-6-63 for a .4603 hitting percentage in the first two sets.
"It took us some time to get calibrated to the pace of the match," Flora added. "We needed to see what was in front of us and react with intention. Once we did that, we had an elite Division III match. We had some stellar play blocking and defending late in the match. We also did a fabulous job at the service line tonight as well. We believe in this team at a deep level, so this match continues to show how we can all contribute."
Once the Pirates were able to get used to the pace of the game that the Tigers dictated in the first two sets then they were able to showcase their own talent in the third set to show that they weren't going to roll over.
Down 13-8 in the third set, Southwestern used a combination of tactical offense for kills and stellar defense to force Trinity into hitting errors for a 17-5 run to close out the set win.
The fans in attendance and watching online were treated to a back-and-forth affair in the fourth set that saw Brantley help Southwestern stave off a set point to tie the match at 24-24, but the Tigers closed out the set with two errors by the Pirates on serve then on attack.
Brantley led both teams in kills with a season-best 16. Nedrow collected 13 digs to lead the Pirates as well as Romo (22) and Flora (17) continuing to play well from their setter position in dishing out assists.
"We continue to grow and develop each match," said Flora about his team's effort on the day and so far, this season. "We love what this true team is doing together."
UP NEXT
Southwestern will close out its trip to the Centennial State of Colorado with a Saturday afternoon outing against the host Colorado College. First serve is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. CDT.