Crusaders Wrapped Up Home Conference Weekend with Split on Saturday

IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas volleyball team split its two games played on day two of the SCAC Crossover held at UD. The team was fell to No. 13 Trinity University in straight sets, but ended the tournament with a three-set sweep over Johnson and Wales University (CO). The Crusaders (11-7, 4-4 SCAC) now have surpassed the 2017 win-total.

(Match vs. Trinity University)

Dallas was unable to fight off Trinity University as they fell in straight sets 25-17, 25-20, 25-12. The Crusaders (10-7, 3-7 SCAC) held with the Tigers in the first two sets, but ran out of gas in the third set against the No. 13 team in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).

Ellise Anable (Phoenix, Ariz.) led the team with six kills. Dayjah Whyte (Round Rock, Texas) and Anna Stevenson (Dallas, Texas) both had five. Krystyn Pua (Escondido, Calif) led the defense with 18 digs.

Madeline McKay led the Tigers (14-4, 6-0 SCAC) with 15 kills. Avery Tuggle added 10 kills on 23 attempts. Trinity hit .310 and .357 in the second and third set, respectively.

The Tigers had an early 6-2 lead to start set one. Dallas gained a couple of points to cut the lead to two (7-5) when Trinity went on a 6-0 run. Katrina Lieberman and McKay each had kills on that series. UD was unable to get within the Tigers reach, as Trinity won the set by eight.

Set two was tied at three. Avery Tuggle gave Trinity a 4-3 lead after she nailed a kill. Dallas opened up a 6-4 lead after three-straight points. Trinity did not let up after they were able to cut the lead to one (8-9). UD kept the lead through the set as they created a three point spread (15-12). Trinity stormed back, taking nine of the next ten points (21-16). Dallas got back in the action as they took four of the next five points. Stevenson and Abigail Porras (El Paso, Texas) led the charge, but the Tigers took the final three points to win the set.

The third set started out tight, like the first two, as the game was tied at 7. Three straight Trinity points opened up a 10-7 lead. UD was still in the set by creating points to be down one (9-10). Both teams traded points back-and-forth. Anable had a kill to cut the Tigers lead to (15-12). Trinity took the final ten points of the match to take the sweep.

(Match vs. Johnson and Wales)

Dallas finished the tournament strong sweeping Johnson and Wales University in the nightcap 25-22, 25-15, 25-19. Whyte and Porras both had nine kills for the team lead. Anable added eight kills on 22 total attempts. Pua led the Crusaders with 15 digs. Isabel Garcia (San Antonio, Texas) had a season-best 12 digs to boost the defense.

The Wildcats (1-16, 1-6 SCAC) were led offensively by Brooke Paxton who had 12 kills. Paxton also had a double-double on the evening with 13 digs. Kaitlin Jones joined her teammate with 13 digs, also.

Dallas found a 5-1 lead in set one, when the Wildcats stormed back with an 8-0 run. JWU grew its lead to 12-6. Anable and Porras added kills to end the Wildcats run. JWU and Dallas traded points. Brooke Paxton got a kill to help the Wildcats go up 17-14. Whyte had back-to-back kills followed by a Garcia ace to tie the game at 17. JWU did grab the lead (21-20) after a Madi Fox kill, but two Wildcat errors gave the lead right back to UD. Dallas took three of the next points to win set one.

A 12-0 Dallas run erased the JWU 9-4 lead. Isabel Garcia was on serve for the Crusader comeback. Dallas kept on rolling on the way to the set win.

UD opened up a 8-3 lead, but the Wildcats chipped away and got within one point (9-10). At the 14-12 mark went on a 5-0 run. Dallas finished the set out strong as they won on straight sets.  

SOCIAL MEDIA

#UDCrusaders WIN! Defeat Johnson & Wales to finish home conference weekend 2-2! #WeAreUD #SCACvb #d3vb pic.twitter.com/Te4l79giC8

— UDallas Athletics (@UDallasSports) September 30, 2018

UP NEXT

Dallas will head to Moore, Oklahoma on Tuesday to take on Southwestern Christian College at 5 p.m. and then play host Randall University at 7 p.m