Volleyball holds off Austin College Rally; Survive Sunday's Thriller
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas volleyball team (9-13, 4-6 SCAC) scrapped its way to a thrilling five-set victory over Austin College (14-10, 5-5 SCAC) in perhaps the biggest win of the campaign thus far to cap a 2-1 SCAC divisional weekend. Sunday's victory snapped a four-match slide in head-to-head meetings with the 'Roos, and was the first win this fall by UD against a conference opponent in the top half of the eight-team conference standings. It secured the Crusaders sole possession of fifth place after starting league play 0-3.
The home team had four players set or match career-highs, broke a school record for team digs in a game with 143, and accumulated season bests in kills (72) and assists (71) en route to an inspiring triumph. The previous program record for team digs in a match was 137 against Southwestern Assemblies of God on September 21, 2006.
SET SCORES: W 3-2 | (23-25, 21-25, 25-18, 34-32, 13-15)
HOW IT HAPPENED
All five sets were close with four of them coming down to the wire. In the opening frame, Dallas held the early lead by as many as three, but after the final juncture being ahead that mark (11-8); the 'Roos made their first huge run with five straight points. Austin College maintained a brief edge before Mairin Guilfoyle's (Roanoke, Va.) kill knotted the board and Anna Fazio's (Beaumont, Texas) service ace flipped the lead change. This set provided nine ties and eight lead changes. Consecutive kills by Diana Hassink (Tulsa, Okla.) sparked a run where UD closed the frame with four of the final five points. Her pair of kills pushed UD back in front 23-22 and a kill by Mary Scholz punctuated the round with the set point.
The second set had 13 ties, as neither team could capture any sort of consistent momentum. UD trailed by two (16-14) and then utilized a 5-0 run to leap up 19-16. The 'Roos were not down long as a countered five straight points of their own swung the lead for the guests, 21-19. It was the home team that resiliently made the final blow that set with a 7-0 run to take a commanding 2-0 edge in the set points. A kill by Merit Paramo (Wasilla, Alaska) locked the victory down and followed an ace by Koster.
Austin College avoided a set sweep with a solid win in the third. Seven points this set was the widest difference at the end of one in this contest.
A fourth set provided plenty of excitement as one team looked to stave off defeat and the other was searching for a big home-opening weekend finish. Neither squad led by more than one until the Crusaders broke a 21-21 deadlock on a service error by the visitors. UD's Scholz took advantage with back-to-back aces (she had three overall) and forced the 'Roos into a timeout. Down to their last point, AC rebounded with four unanswered points to go up 25-24. The home squad remained alive to force more extra points and Elizabeth Smith (Broken Arrow, Okla.) threw down a quick kill to put Dallas back in the driver's seat.
Overall, this set resulted in 27 ties and 12 lead changes. Nine of those knotted times occurred once extra points would need to be determined. Five lead changes also happened within same span. Several desperate plays continued throughout with the Maher Center erupting at the end of each until the 'Roos had consecutive kills force a final set.
Austin College was the first to eight points and led by two, but the Crusaders scratched kills from Hassink and Kyndal Miller (Crockett, Texas) to even the score again. After each team exchanged points a couple times, the 'Roos grasped a 13-12 edge. In the previous game at hosted Colorado College, it was the other way. This time the Crusaders flipped the script with Scholz swatting straight kills and Hassink dialing the final point to improve the Navy and White to 3-3 in sets that go all five.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Guilfoyle shattered a career-high 25 kills and broke the 20-plateua for the second time this season. She notched a double-double with 10 digs and etched 25.0 points. In the 4th set, the senior outside hitter knocked seven down.
- Helping create a trio of double figure kill performances were Scholz with 14 and Miller with a personal best 13. It is the first time Miller has broken double-digits in that category of her rookie year.
- Jessie Koster (Sherwood, Ore.) matched a career-high 48 digs for the second time in the past four outings. That number remains 5th best in the all-time SCAC record books for single-game total.
- Smith soared above her previous career-high in assists of 46 by dishing 61. That mark is the highest since Ashli Randl logged the school record of 70 against University of Texas at Tyler on September 11, 2004.
- That same season, Randl had 60 in a match against Jarvish Christian College (Sept. 19), which is most recent for an individual to break 60 in a single match. CJ Broadbent ('14) was the most recent high Smith broke with 54 against Sunday's opponent on October 11, 2014.
- The team's combined 66 points in the 4th set was the most since Sept. 17, 2015 when Dallas and Southwestern Assemblies of God posted 64 altogether in the first set.
- Austin College had two players above 20 kills and a trio in double-digits. Presleigh Watson had 24 for a team-high and Madison Lee followed with 21. Rebekah Bowden completed the unit with 10.
- Lee added a double-double with 15 digs. Madi McVay (42) and Tatiana Ferrari (33) amassed the majority of AC's 136 digs.
- Katie Ingle boasted a game-high 64 assists.
UP NEXT
Dallas wraps up the home stand with Arlington Baptist College on Thursday, October 13. Start time is slated for 7 p.m. as the Crusaders begin a stretch of four matches against non-conference opponents.