Crusaders Sweep Arlington Baptist on Senior Night
IRVING, TEXAS - The University of Dallas volleyball swept Arlington Baptist University 25-15, 25-12, 25-22 in straight-sets. The Crusaders (16-10, 5-6 SCAC) celebrated Senior Night with an exciting win. Seniors Elizabeth Smith (Broken Arrow, Okla.) and Sarah Hughes (Fair Oaks, Calif.) were recognized before the match. Both seniors had big performances in their last regular season home game.
The Crusaders were tested in the first set. ABU had a 5-3 lead, until Dallas went on a 4-0 run capped off by a Dayjah Whyte (Round Rock, Texas) ace. The Patriots came back to tie the set at 7. Tied again at eight, UD took five of the next six points to grab a 13-9 lead. ABU scratched away at the lead to get within two (14-12) but Dallas took 11 of the next 14 points to grab the set win.
Dallas jumped out to a 9-0 run in set two. UD continued this dominance through the rest of the set to win 25-12. The Crusaders hit .217 with 14 kills in the set.
The Patriots (9-12) did not go away easily in the third set. ABU came out with a 5-1 lead, but Dallas came back with four straight points to tie the set. The Patriots went on another run, taking five of the next seven points to take a gradual lead (10-7). Jacquelyn and Hanna Jiminez lead this surge with a kill each. ABU saw their biggest lead on the night when they grabbed a 16-12 lead. UD made a comeback taking the next four points to tie the set on Senior Night.
Dallas grabbed its first lead of the set (18-17) after back-to-back ABU errors. The Patriots did not let up, after Jacquelyn Wells and Jessica Wells both had kills down the stretch. UD escaped with a three point set win for the sweep after Kennedy Bradley (Groesbeck, Texas) and Isabel Garcia (San Antonio, Texas) had key kills.
Smith had another big game at setter producing 32 assists. Smith also had three kills and four digs. Hughes had a solid outing with 13 digs on the night.
The Crusaders defense played extraordinary. A trio of UD players hit double-digits in digs. Krystyn Pua (Escondido, Calif.) led the team with 20 digs. Aurora Rodriguez (Westwood, Kan.) contributed a season-best 14, while Hughes had 13. The team eclipsed 1500 digs on the season and now sit at 1529.
The Crusaders, who are leading the SCAC in aces, notched nine in the match.
Abigail Porras (El Paso, Texas) led the offense with 12 kills and hit .409. Whyte hit double-digits in kills, again on the season, with 10.
Jacquelyn Wells and Jessica Wells both had 10 kills for the Patriots. Hannah Jiminez led ABU with 20 digs, while Haylee Silves added 18.
Dallas finished 5-3 at home in the regular season.
SOCIAL MEDIA
#UDallasVB key stats from tonight's Senior Game Victory! #WeAreUD #d3vb pic.twitter.com/PXDB1t28YY
— UDallas Athletics (@UDallasSports) October 17, 2018
UP NEXT
Dallas will travel to Trinity University for a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Crossover tournament. The Crusaders will play Schreiner University on Saturday (10/20) at 1 p.m. UD will continue play on Sunday (10/21) against Texas Lutheran at 10 a.m. and then play the host, Trinity University at 2 p.m.
