Koster digs Record; Early Rally not Enough as Volleyball drops final two of Regular Season

TYLER, Texas – A program feat was accomplished for junior Jessie Koster (Sherwood, Ore.), as she eclipsed the University of Dallas volleyball season record for digs with 741. The previous mark was held by Kelli Fuentes in 2008 with a total of 736.

Koster's effort and a thrilling rally in the first set of the nightcap of a tri-tournament would not be enough as Dallas (11-21) dropped both contests Saturday. With both games hosted on the court at University of Texas at Tyler, UD would contend with East Texas Baptist University and the Patriots on Halloween.

The Lady Crusaders dropped three sets (15-25, 11-25, 19-25) to begin the afternoon with East Texas Baptist University. This is the second meeting this fall for the programs, with the Tigers claiming a 3-1 victory at the Austin College Invitational on September 11.

After ETBU secured the first two sets in today's matchup, the Navy and White would battle in its closest frame of the evening. Out of the opening serve, both squads would trade points up until Dallas held a narrow 7-6 lead.

A span of three-straight points lifted East Texas Baptist ahead for good, and another 4-0 run pushed the margin to 15-9. The Lady Crusaders cut the gap as close as a pair of points (17-19), but would be unable to rally back.

In the second match at the early part of the evening, Dallas would fall in four sets (28-26, 23-25, 17-25, 13-25) against UT-Tyler. Trailing by nine (22-13), the Lady Crusaders chipped away with an 8-1 spurt to bring the deficit to a pair of points in the opening set. The Patriots got a point on a kill by Amanda Colegrove to create the set-point with the advantage by three.

However, UD benefitted from back-to-back attack errors on the home squad, and junior Mairin Guilfoyle (Roanoke, Va.) knotted the scoreboard 24-all on a kill. Forced to go beyond regular 25 points, it was the guests that would claw the come-from-behind win out to gain an early edge.

UT-Tyler started the next set off on a 7-2 run to go up, but the Lady Crusaders countered with three unanswered scoring sequences to close the gap. Dallas held its first lead of the frame (9-8) on what capped a 4-0 run by the Patriots' attack error on Samantha Lee. The squads would exchange points until UD went surging on momentum with five points in a row, but could not break away once gaining its largest edge of the evening, 17-13.

A 10-2 turnaround on the scoreboard helped the Patriots even the set score, and this included a 7-0 run within the final stretch. Even down 24-19, Dallas created havoc by etching a quartet of points in a row to nip the deficit to one. UT-Tyler's Rachael Harvey would get the kill to close the round.

After that, the Lady Crusaders would be topped in the final two sets as they concluded the regular season in a 3-1 setback. On the final play of the third set, Koster would achieve the record breaking dig, as the defending United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Player-of-the-Week notched her second program record for UD. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE VS. EAST TEXAS BAPTIST (21-6)

• Leading the offense for UD in kills were Guilfoyle and freshman Elizabeth Smith (Broken Arrow, Okla.) with eight and six, respectively.
• Defensively, Koster made 17 digs and sophomore Diana Hassink (Tulsa, Okla.) picked up 11.
• A trio of players would all garner seven assists: freshman Kaley Turner (Puyallup, Wash.), Hassink, and Smith all with the numbers in that category.
• East Texas Baptist University posted a .240 kill percentage and had two players in double-digits on the individual kill column. Mallory Sanders led with 12 and Adaeze Elonu put down 10 successful attacks.
• Hannah Jones made 21 digs and Reighanna Guzman matched that total for assists. ETBU notched 15 blocks, with Elonu led with six of them.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE VS. TEXAS-TYLER (19-10)

• Guilfoyle clinched one of the team's two double-doubles with 16 kills and 11 digs in the match. That mark sets season-bests both personally and for an individual on the team this fall. Senior Cat Dowgwillo (St. Louis, Mo.) and Hassink each added eight.
• Smith would garner 40 assists, coming one shy of tying her career-high that has been displayed twice in her freshman campaign. The setter also made 10 digs for a double-double.
• Five players for UD compiled double figure performances in digs led by Koster with 25. Freshman Sarah Hughes (Fair Oaks, Calif.) contributed a season-high 17, and Hassink was third in the group with 16. Previously mentioned Guilfoyle and Smith completed the unit.
• Dowgwillo made a season-high five blocks, including two solo blocks. UD had eight overall as Hughes was also involved in a career-most three block assists. Dallas outdid the Patriots eight to six on blocks.
• Texas-Tyler was led by Courtney Criswell with 18 kills and a .325 kill percentage. Her 20 digs ranked third among a group that surpassed that plateau in the game. Harvey had a game-high 27 digs and reached a double-double with 12 kills. Rebecca Floyd set 60 assists.

UP NEXT

Dallas qualified for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Tournament hosted by Georgetown, Texas, on November 6-7. The Lady Crusaders play that Friday against the No. 3-seed Texas Lutheran University at 1 p.m.