Volleyball concludes Dallas Invite with 1-1 effort Saturday
ARLINGTON, Texas - With the Dallas Invite shifting to Arlington Baptist College, the University of Dallas volleyball team (2-2) went 1-1 Saturday as the squad fell to the Univeristy of Wisconsin-Superior (UWS) before defeating Sul Ross State University (SRSU).
Match 6: Dallas falls to Wisconsin-Superior, 3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-19, 11-15):
For the second time in two Saturday contests, a match went the full five sets, as UWS edged Dallas, 3-2, in match six of the Dallas Invite. The Crusaders battled from behind, trailing 1-0 and 2-1, before forcing the fifth set.
"We're right there and if we had done some little things correctly and played a little bit smarter we could have had it," said head coach Amy Byfield.
Dallas started quickly in the first set, jumping out to a 10-5 lead early. However, the Yellow Jackets steadily climbed back, eventually carrying the set, 25-19.
After trailing the majority of the second set, the Crusaders battled back to tie the match at 20. From that point, they earned five of the final eight points, tying the match at one with a 25-23 win.
The Yellow Jackets went on a 4-1 start to begin the third set, holding off a Dallas comeback and taking a 2-1 set lead with a 25-17 win.
A determined Dallas team came into the fourth set with new life, starting on a 7-1 run. After a UWS timeout, the Yellow Jackets started their own 6-1 run. Dallas never lost their lead, however, pulling away late for a 25-19 win, forcing a fifth set.
The final set played as tightly as the rest of the match, with no lead reaching more than four. With the set tied at 10, the Yellowjackets scored five of the final six points, earning a 3-2 victory with a 15-11 set five win.
"I'm actually really pleased," added Byfield. "I think we kept the same energy the whole time and that's hard to train. I'm glad we took it to five, and we played that fifth set pretty hard."
Mairin Guilfoyle (Roanoke, Va.) led the way for the Crusaders, turning in a double-double with 12 kills and 13 digs. Jaime Birzer (Ottawa, Kan.) was the only other Dallas player with double digit kills, adding 10.
On the defensive side, five players turned in double-digit digs, led by 19 from Jessie Koster (Sherwood, Ore.). C.J. Broadbent (Goodyear, Ariz.) earned 16 digs, followed by Hailey White (Calgary, Alberta) with 14, Guilfoyle's 12, and 10 from Allison Seager (Dallas). Broadbent did the majority of the passing, earning 25 assists.
"A few of the players really stepped up and did a lot of good things. Cat Dowgwillo (St. Louis) came in off the bench and made block after block after block (three assists, one solo), which was huge for our momentum and confidence."
Kitty Tynen produced the top overall performance for the winning club, earning 14 kills and 20 digs. Alissa Autio earned 15 kills, with 23 digs coming from Lauren Peterson, both of which were game highs. Keely Deadrick passed off 48 assists.
UWS finishes their tournament play at 4-0. Dallas drops to 1-2 and will compete in one more contest, match eight against SRSU.
Match 8: Dallas defeats Sul Ross State University, 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-14):
Led by five kills each from Hailey White and Marissa Villarrubia (Romeoville, Ill.), Dallas spread the ball around effectively in the match. C.J. Broadbent totalled eight assists, with Christine Jablonsky (Colorado Springs, Colo.) adding six.
Jessie Koster headed the defensive effort with a team-high 19 digs. White added 12, with Mairin Guilfoyle contributed 11.
"Christine Jablonsky was a big factor stepping in to set off the bench, not having set this entire tournament, and carrying herself really well," added Byfield.
For SRSU (0-3), Alexandra Chace earned a game-high nine kills. Clarissa Hernandez passed off 19 assists, while Alejandra Iglesias pitched in 24 digs. The Lobos compete in one final game, Saturday, the tournament finale against Arlington Baptist College.