Volleyball begins 2015 with a 3-0 Victory over Dallas Christian
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas volleyball team (1-0) enjoyed an enthusiastic home-opener, as it defeated Dallas Christian College (0-1) on Tuesday at the Maher Center. Dallas would take the three-set sweep (25-14, 25-12, 25-20) for the victory.
The triumph marks the first time the Lady Crusaders claimed an opening season win since 2012 – a 3-0 defeat of Sul Ross State University. Dallas took the three-set sweep over DCC, with 11 players in the home Crusader jerseys suiting up on the court throughout the match.
In the opening set, both squads rallied early to an eventual 4-4 deadlock. From there, UD rattled a 16-6 scoring run, with its largest advantage at 20-10 at one juncture. The largest edge for the Lady Crusaders would be 13 in the first set.
The second set began with an early push from Dallas Christian, going up 3-1 before the Lady Crusaders mustered a span of six unanswered points. From there, Dallas would build its advantage to 19-9, the first time a double-digit lead would occur in the set. Once at 22-12, the Navy and White logged three consecutive points, with senior Cat Dowgwillo (St. Louis, Mo.) notching the final pair on a service ace and kill, respectively.
The right-side hitter/middle blocker managed six kills and digs each on the evening game.
Dallas Christian battled in the final set to the closest margin of the trio that night, falling by five. It was a back-and-forth trade of scoring plays with neither team leading by more than one until a 5-0 spurt lifted UD to a 20-15 score. The home team secured a tally in the win column by closing out the frame on a 10-5 run.
Junior Mairin Guilfoyle (Roanoke, Va.) finished with the most kills for the Lady Crusaders with nine. Dallas would edge its opponent, 35-22, in that category and committed fewer attack errors with 13 compared to 22. Fellow classmate Lexi Noriega (Salinas, Calif.) and senior Jaime Birzer (Ottawa, Kan.) added seven kills apiece.
Digs were nearly even, as UD collected a 44-42 margin in those. Freshmen duo, Kaley Turner (Puyallup, Wash.) and Elizabeth Smith (Broken Arrow, Okla.) debuted their careers with double figures in assists at 17 and 12, respectively.
For Dallas Christian, Jonae Thompson was the lead on offense, pounding a game-high 13 kills. Destinee' Branch garnered 12 digs on the defensive end.
UP NEXT:
The University of Dallas participates in four matches over a two-day span in the ASICS Invite, hosted by Washington University (MO) on September 4-5. The first day, UD plays Rhodes College at 6 p.m. and Washington University at 8 p.m.