Volleyball drops final two SCAC matches in Cross Divisional
COLORADO SPRINGS, Col. – The University of Dallas volleyball team (10-18, 4-10 SCAC) finished regular season conference play with two setbacks on Saturday of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Cross Divisional. Dallas fell in both matches 3-0 to Texas Lutheran University and Trinity University 3-0. UD has dropped its past seven, including four from the two-day tournament.
The Lady Crusaders fell against Texas Lutheran in three sets: 25-20, 25-17, 25-13. In the opening set, UD and the Bulldogs exchanged points throughout the first 18 serves, until the Navy and White scored four times in a row.
Dallas maintained a three-point edge on one more occasion a few plays later, but would last lead 17-15 before TLU made a big run to recapture the momentum for good. The Bulldogs rattled off seven-straight points and would close the frame on a 10-3 stretch.
In the middle set, the Lady Crusaders once again kept about even in the first portion of the round, knotting things 9-all for the second time in a row that morning. An 8-2 run would create separation for the Black and Gold, and secure a 2-0 set advantage. UD dropped the final set as the Bulldogs earned the sweep.
Later in the afternoon, Dallas was defeated by the Tigers from Trinity University in three-straight sets: 15-25, 19-25, 15-25.
UD took a 6-2 advantage out of the opening serve, but the Maroon and Gold made that difference evaporate with an 8-1 run. A 5-0 span with TU down a point erased the early deficit and the Tigers never trailed the remainder of the first set.
Things were back-and-forth in the second set, as the Lady Crusaders played their closest round of the contest, falling by six on the final set tally. After trailing a couple points early, the Lady Crusaders benefitted from three attack errors in a row by the opposition to grab an 11-9 advantage.
A few plays later with the score knotted 13-13, Trinity pieced together six-straight points to separate the margin and take control of game with a 2-0 edge. Dallas would fall in the final set, as the Tigers won their fifth match in a row.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE VS. TEXAS LUTHERAN (16-6, 8-5 SCAC)
- Junior Mairin Guilfoyle (Roanoke, Va.) tied a game-high 14 kills, and paced the Lady Crusaders with that mark on the day. It was her 12th time reaching double figures in that category this season and ties a second highest total on the year – one away from season best.
- Fellow teammate Jessie Koster (Sherwood, Ore.) managed a game-most 34 digs, and has eclipsed the 30 dig plateau in four of the past five contests. She was four away from the match yesterday that did not make the feat. This total matched the second most digs on the campaign, and was the second time for Koster to post the number.
- Freshman Elizabeth Smith (Broken Arrow, Okla.) led with 16 assists, and classmate Kaley Turner (Puyallup, Wash.) claimed a double-double with 12 assists and 11 digs. Sophomore Diana Hassink (Tulsa, Okla.) completed a trio of UD players in double figures for digs with 13.
- Texas Lutheran outdid the Lady Crusaders 46-31 in kills and 93-84 in digs. TLU displayed a kill percentage of .246 and made 16 blocks.
- Kristin Fording was the other hitter with the best kill performance at 14 overall and a .334 percentage. Megan Dugie led a quarter of players in double figure dig totals with 28. Fording was next in that group with 19 to boast a double-double. Kelcie Ingram and Kati Maldonado rounded out the unit with 14 and 12 digs, respectively.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE VS. TRINITY (19-11, 7-7 SCAC)
- Guilfoyle, senior Cat Dowgwillo (St. Louis, Mo.), and Hassink finished with the top total amount of kills with six, five, and four, respectively. Dowgwillo hit two of the team's five blocks.
- Koster was the lone Lady Crusader in double-digits on digs with 19. Smith and Turner combined for seven assists.
- Trinity had 45 kills compared to 21 by UD. Kirby Smith notched a game-high 13, while Rebecca Hayes and Madeline McKay added nine and eight, respectively. Hayes led the defense with half of the Tigers' 12 blocks.
- Five players for TU reached double figure performances in digs led by Sarah Price with 14. Erika Edrington finished with a double-double, setting 35 assists and 11 digs; Smith also collected 11 digs. Rounding out the quintet were Sarah Mullens and Shannon Courtney with 10 digs apiece.
UPCOMING WEEK
Dallas travels to Howard Payne University on Tuesday, October 27 at 7 p.m. The next day, UD hosts its final home match of the year versus Jarvis Christian College. Finally, the busy week concludes on Oct. 31 with two matches hosted at University of Texas at Tyler. The Lady Crusaders face East Texas Baptist University prior to taking on the host school to wrap up the regular season.
The SCAC Tournament is scheduled for November 6-7 and will be hosted at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. Dallas will be the 6th seed after winning the tiebreaker against Schreiner University.