Volleyball Splits Sunday; Edge Trinity 3-2 in Thriller after #18 Southwestern Setback

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The University of Dallas volleyball team split Sunday's two-match finale of the SCAC Cross-Divisional hosted at Trinity University. After falling in straight sets, 3-0, versus No. 18 Southwestern University, the Lady Crusaders fought past Trinity in a 3-2 thriller. It is the first time in program history, UD has defeated the Tigers.

In the first game of the afternoon, Dallas would fall by set scores: 25-12, 25-18, and 25-17. The top 25 ranked Pirates were too much for the Navy and White.

Facing the host school in the second of consecutive matches, Dallas pounced on TU in the first two sets to carry the early momentum. The Lady Crusaders made every effort to get by, displaying 25-22 and 26-24, respective results in the first pair of sets.

Trinity countered prevailing 25-16 and 25-19 to force a final and game-deciding fifth set. It was the second time this weekend and this season UD would be playing a fifth frame, after falling 3-2 against Texas Lutheran University nearly 24 hours ago.

The Tigers seemed to seize the momentum, trading points with Dallas until a 5-1 run lifted the home squad to an 8-4 edge. Out of the UD timeout however, the Lady Crusaders bounced back with four in a row to knot the match. After a few exchanges, the visitors benefited from a Trinity miscue and took the first advantage of the final set, 11-10. Another error by TU increased the edge and forced a timeout with the Lady Crusaders up by two.

Still, the Tigers continued to be resilient and knotted things 12-all as Dallas suffered an attack error that followed a Kirby Smith kill to swing things in favor of the home team.

Junior Mairin Guilfoyle (Roanoke, Va.) clobbered a powerful kill to put the Lady Crusaders back in front 13-12. A few more exchange in points would move the scoreboard to a 14-all display. From there Guilfoyle and junior Lexi Noriega (Salinas, Calif.) provided the consecutive kills that secure the nail-biting finish.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE VS. NO. 18 SOUTHWESTERN (15-2, 6-1 SCAC)

• Senior Jaime Birzer (Ottawa, Kan.) logged a game-high 10 kills. She was the lone player to crack double figures in that category. Guilfoyle contributed five.  
• Sophomore Diana Hassink (Tulsa, Okla.) led Dallas with 21 digs, tying the second highest for her on the season. Junior Jessie Koster (Sherwood, Ore.) had 13.  
• Freshmen duo Elizabeth Smith (Broken Arrow, Okla.) and Kaley Turner (Puyallup, Wash.) combined for 27 assists with 14 and 13, respectively. Turner completed a trio of players with double-digit totals in digs with 12. 
• Southwestern reflected a .254 kill percentage and outdid UD 41-28 in kills. Kirby Kincannon led the Pirates with nine and Kaitlyn Foster chipped in seven. Nine different players for SU recorded a kill and had at least two in the team effort.
• Nikki Welch posted a game-high 38 assists.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE VS. TRINITY (9-7, 2-3 SCAC)  

• Noriega paced the Lady Crusaders with a season-high 15 kills. Three players would surpass double figures as Birzer etched her fourth contest in a row in that category with 12. Just above the senior with 13 kills, including the go-ahead out of a 14-14 deadlock was Guilfoyle.
• Birzer did hit a .294 kill percentage in the triumph and was responsible for four of the five block solos by the squad. She added a pair of block assists, as Dallas posted eight.
• Trinity narrowly produced 60 kills to 58 from UD. The Tigers also held a 101-95 edge in digs.
• Five players picked up double-digit numbers in digs on the defensive side, led by Koster with 29. Hassink was right behind with 24, which is one shy of her season-best. Freshman Sarah Hughes (Fair Oaks, Calif.) was among the unit with 12 digs and tied Noriega. Completing the quintet was Guilfoyle with 10.
• Turner amassed a career-high 25 assists and led the Lady Crusaders in the latter game. Smith was right behind dishing out 24.
• Trinity was led by Smith with 23 kills for a game-high. Sarah Mullens and Rebecca Hayes contributed 11 kills apiece. Erika Edrington mustered 51 of the Maroon and Gold's 59 assists.
• The Tigers made 16 block assists, led by Jessye Castro with six. Katie Gillis leaped on four and Smith was part of three. Hayes logged the lone block solo to match her block assist total.

UP NEXT

Dallas opens a season-long, six-game home stand. The first match is October 1 at 7 p.m. versus Arlington Baptist College.