Volleyball goes 1-1 Saturday in SCAC Divisional
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas volleyball team (10-12) split the first day of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Divisional with a 3-0 win over Centenary College of Louisiana and setback versus No. 8 Colorado College on Saturday.
The Crusaders were able to top Centenary in three-straight sets: 20-25, 11-25, and 22-25. It is the eighth time this fall UD has managed to sweep an opponent for its triumph. In the first set, Dallas was able build a slight edge after playing to a 3-all score out of the tilt. The largest score was 13-9 and the Ladies would counter by coming within a single point (15-14). UD maintained composure and rattled off five-straight points to swing the momentum back on its side.
After Centenary moved within two points (21-19), the Navy and White claimed the first set by going on a 4-1 run.
In the second frame, Dallas broke a 6-6 knotted set and pounded eight points in a row to begin pushing what would be the largest margin of a set in the contest. It was also the fewest points UD held its opponent to on the campaign. The first double-digit edge for the Lady Crusaders was 18-8. The greatest lead for the home squad was 14 on two occasions, including the final tally of the set.
The Ladies did battle in the third set, exchanging leads throughout the set. There were nine ties, and Centenary did climb back from a 10-6 hole to take a 13-12 advantage – the first since the opening point of the set. After a 23-all deadlock, the home squad secured the conference win with three-straight points.
Senior Cat Dowgwillo (St. Louis, Mo.) made two of her 10 kills during that stretch and freshman Elizabeth Smith (Broken Arrow, Okla.) attacked the final kill of the win.
In the nightcap, Dallas was pitted against the number eight ranked Tigers from Colorado College. The top 25 ranked opponent remained unblemished in conference action after taking three sets: (25-20, 25-11, 25-22).
It was all Black and Gold from the opening serve in the first set, as the road team began with a 10-2 run. UD would compete hard, and utilized a 4-1 run at the end to finish the first set. After a staying nearly even with the Tigers in the middle set, an outburst of 12-2 points lifted CC to needing one more set for its 12th-straight victory.
That set would occur in the next round as Dallas was topped by the same result as the first set. UD cut the deficit to a pair (6-4) after falling behind 4-0 in the beginning of the set. Trailing 11-9, the Tigers scored nine of the next 11 points to push the advantage.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE VS. CENTENARY COLLEGE (4-17, 0-8 SCAC)
- Junior Mairin Guilfoyle (Roanoke, Va.) tied a season-high 15 kills in the match. She also hit a .381 kill percentage. Dowgwillo also finished in double figures with 10 kills and a team-high .391 kill percentage.
- Freshman Claire Gagliano (Peachtree City, Ga.) notched a career-high nine kills in her first start of the year.
- Defensively, the Lady Crusaders had a quartet of players break double-digits in digs. Among the unit were: junior Jessie Koster (Sherwood, Ore.) with 14, freshman Sarah Hughes (Fair Oaks, Calif.) with 13, sophomore Diana Hassink with 12, and junior Lexi Noriega (Salinas, Calif.) with 10.
- Smith paced the team with 24 assists, while freshman Kaley Turner (Puyallup, Wash.) added 11. Dallas produced a .218 kill percentage compared to Centenary's .060-clip, and also edged the Maroon and White in blocks – seven to none.
- Centenary had Desiree Frey lead the team with eight kills. Allison Lazewski gave 13 assists and three players were in double-digits for digs. Forming the trio included: Hailey Lawson, Frey, and Amanda Farr with 15, 14, and 10, respectively.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE VS. COLORADO COLLEGE (20-1, 9-0 SCAC)
- Dowgwillo led the offense with eight kills, while Gagliano and Guilfoyle added six apiece. UD was outdone offensively in kills 44-26 and allowed a .248 kill percentage to the Tigers.
- Both Smith and Turner each were credited with 12 assists.
- Koster defensively paced the team with 23 digs. Hughes added 10.
- Colorado College was led by Amelia Mouw and Courtney Birkett in kills with 11 and 10, respectively. Rebecca Watson posted 19 assists and Birkett chimed in with 11.
- Sophie Merrifield led the defense with 21 digs. Five CC players eclipsed the double-digit mark for digs and as the team reflected a 73-65 edge. The Tigers also compiled 12 blocks.
UP NEXT:
Dallas wraps up a season-long, six-match home stand on Sunday. The Lady Crusaders host Austin College around 1 p.m. This will follow a neutral site game prior between Colorado College and Centenary College as the SCAC Divisional also concludes that day.