Crusaders Drop Two Matches on Second Day of SCAC Divisional Tournament Hosted by Colorado College

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The University of Dallas volleyball team dropped both matches on day two at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Divisional tournament hosted by Colorado College. The Crusaders (15-10, 5-6 SCAC) lost a tight match to Southwestern University 25-22, 25-12, 25-22 in the first match. Dallas fell in the afternoon match against Austin College 19-25, 25-17, 17-25, 17-25. UD will play another conference tournament hosted by Trinity University next weekend.

(Match vs. Southwestern University)

Dallas had a 8-2 lead in set one. Southwestern (11-10, 7-3 SCAC) was able to scratch back to tie the set at 13. Jamison Duck and Ashley Whitlock led the comeback with kills. UD gained a 19-17 lead, but the Pirates fought back to tie it the set at 21 and again at 22. Lauren Crabtree added a kill for Southwestern to the three-point swing to win set one even with Dallas outhitting the Pirates .244 to .179.

After a back-and-forth tight set, Southwestern came out strong with a 7-1 lead. After the Dallas timeout, they were able to inch within four. (4-8) with errors from the Pirates. Southwestern added to the margin, but Dallas was right there after back-to-back service aces by Krystyn Pua (Escondido Calif.) and Brook Jefferson (Pearland, Texas). But five straight attacking errors by the Crusaders led Southwestern to the 2-0 lead.

Dallas opened up a 12-8 lead in set three. The Pirates did not let up, as Duck and Crabtree kept getting kills, but UD kept the lead most of the set (20-15). Dayjah Whyte (Round Rock, Texas) hammered a few kills to keep the small lead, but attack errors by the Crusaders kept Southwestern close. Dallas held a 22-20 lead, until Whitlock hit back-to-back kills for the Pirates to tie the set. Southwestern took this momentum to score the next three points for the win.

Ellise Anable (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Dayjah Whyte (Round Rock, Texas) led the Crusaders with eight kills. Elizabeth Smith (Broken Arrow, Okla.) shared the setter role with Stephanie Janysek (Sinton, Texas) as they both contributed 14 and 12 assists, respectively. Pua led the defensive side of the net with 16 digs.

(Match vs. Austin College)

Dallas played the 'Roos tight the whole match. AC had a 9-5 lead, when the Crusaders scored four straight points to even it at 9. Anable and Stevenson hammered kills in that run. Austin College tried to create a spread (13-11), but Garcia hit back-to-back kills to tie the game again. A 6-0 run for the 'Roos switched the momentum back to AC and they used it to take the set one win

Set two was tied at 13, Garcia got two aces along with an AC error to go on a 3-0 run. The Crusaders took advantage of this run and went on to take the set two win to tie the match.

AC (13-10, 5-4 SCAC) opened up set three 15-5, but the Crusaders took five of the next six points to force Austin College to call a timeout. Porras added an ace and a kill on the run. The 'Roos just kept the Crusaders out of reach as AC took set three.

Set four was tied at 7 until the "Roos went on 6-0 run. AC opened up the largest lead of the set on another run to make the set 17-9. The Crusaders did not go down easy but could not overcome the deficit in the end.

Anable tied her season-high with 13 kills in the match. Whyte joined her teammate with 13 kills, also. Smith had 32 assists in the match. Pua led the team again with 17 digs.

UP NEXT

Dallas will be back home for its final regular season home match on Tuesday (10/16) against Arlington Baptist College. First set will begin at 6 p.m.