@UDallasVball 3, Austin College 2 | Colorado College 3, #UDCrusaders 0
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Dallas volleyball (17-8, 6-3 SCAC) team split two matches, edging Austin College (18-11, 2-7 SCAC) 3-2 in the first of the twinbill, before No. 10 Colorado College (23-4, 9-1 SCAC) nipped the navy and white in a sweep.
Dallas took two of three in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Divisional No. 3 tournament over the weekend. The Lady Crusaders had carried a seven-game winning streak, a season-best, prior to the setback versus the nationally ranked host opponent.
Match 2: Dallas defeats Austin College, 3-2:
The Lady Crusaders got off to a rough start, needing three-straight set victories to rally down 2-0 and secure the contest in the early part of Saturday. Dallas fell 25-21 and 25-20 in the first pair of sets.
The navy and white turned the corner in the third round, building a lead as large as 23-16. Austin College answered back with four unanswered points to narrow the deficit by three, but the Lady Crusaders notched the next two sequences to secure the set-point.
In the fourth set, Dallas never trailed and utilized a 5-0 scoring stretch to build a 15-6 advantage, that would eventually seal the contest's largest point differential in a 25-17 win.
After battling to a 15-15 naught in the final frame, the Lady Crusaders were down to the match point, trailing 16-15. A trio of attacks that resulted in kills, including a two from freshman outside hitter Mary Scholz (Fallon, Nev.), would lift Dallas to an 18-16 decision. Scholz was the striker on the game-tying and winning scores.
Junior right-side hitter Cat Dowgwillo (St. Louis, Mo.) contributed a critical kill in between Scholz's match-changing hits.
Dowgwillo paced a trio of Lady Crusaders with a season-high, 17 kills. Junior middle blocker Jaimie Birzer (Ottawa, Kan.) added another stellar effort with 15 kills, and boasted a team-best .316 kill percentage. Scholz provided a personal-best of her own with 13.
Defensively, another trio notched double-digit numbers for digs. This unit was led by sophomore libero Jessie Koster (Sherwood, Ore.) with 36, senior setter C.J. Broadbent (Goodyear, Ariz.) pulling 20, and freshman defensive specialist Diana Hassink (Tulsa, Ok.) rounding the group out with a season-high, 16.
As a team, the navy and white collected 121 digs.
Match 3: No. 10 Colorado College defeats Dallas, 3-0:
It was more difficult for Dallas in the second match of the twinbill day, with Colorado College pushing a 3-0 result. It snapped a lengthy winning stretch for the navy and white.
The Tigers were successful posting 25-19, 15-15, and 25-16 set victories in each respective round to conclude the tournament.
In its closest set, Dallas competed with the top 10 nationally recognized foe to a 11-10 deficit, before a 3-0 gap forced a timeout from the visitors. It worked for the time being, as the Lady Crusaders responded with three-straight points to nip the margin to a single score.
Four unanswered points would ensue for Colorado College and the navy and white never recovered falling in the opening set.
The next two rounds featured tough efforts from Dallas, but lengthy runs would eventually resolve in setbacks, ending the successful run for the navy and white.
Dallas remains in fourth place in the SCAC standings, trailing Southwestern (8-2) by two games for third. Colorado College and No.16 Trinity University both sit atop the standings after unblemished weekends.
Dowgillo and Birzer paced the offense with eight and seven kills, respectively. Koster and Broadbent added 12 digs apiece, while the senior setter also placed 22 assists in the setback.
Next Opponent:
Dallas hosts McMurry University for one of two senior days on Tuesday, Oct. 15. The tilt is set to begin at 6 p.m. with the Lady Crusader's already owning a 3-0 win at the Warhawks venue this campaign.