Volleyball splits Matches on Saturday at Millsaps Invitational; Trautmann captures 1st Win
JACKSON, Miss. – The University of Dallas volleyball team split on Saturday in day two of the Millsaps Invitational. The Crusaders (1-3) dropped the morning match to Dillard University in five sets, but wrapped up the weekend on a positive note by sweeping Agnes Scott College (1-3). The win counted as the first for head coach Kelli Trautmann in her career and with UD.
Dallas squeezed out two early victories that went extra points in sets against the Bleu Devils early in the day. The Crusaders prevailed 27-25 and 28-26, but then their opponent swung the momentum by edging UD 25-22 and 25-21 to even the frames. Dillard went on to win 15-11 in the fifth and deciding set, as the Crusaders moved to 0-3 overall and dropped their second match in five sets over the opening tournament.
Mary Scholz (Fallon, Nev.) tied a game-high 20 kills while Merit Paramo added nine. Kennedy Bradley (Groesbeck, Texas) chipped in with six. Stephanie Janysek (Sinton, Texas) tallied 32 assists and Diana Hassink (Tulsa, Okla.) came up with 35 digs. Scholz contributed 19 digs for her third double-double in as many matches on the campaign.
The Bleu Devils were led by Corneisja Harrison with 20 kills and Shelby Stewart followed closely behind with 19.
In the second match of the day, Trautmann's team took an early advantage 25-22 in the first set. The Crusaders went on to earn their first win by sweeping Agnes Scott after 25-17 and 25-13 scores in the next two respective frames.
The opening set started with Dallas gaining a 4-1 edge. The Scotties countered back on a couple of runs, but never led in the set. They did knot the score on two occasions at 14 and 16. A couple miscues for ASC put the Crusaders ahead the remainder of the frame, with UD leading by as many as six (24-18). After Scholz punched a successful attack to bring Dallas within the set point, the Scotties answered with four straight. Paramo notched a kill to secure the early lead.
Dallas raced out to quick starts in each of the following two sets and carried that momentum towards its first win of 2017. In the second set, the Crusaders led by as many as eight at a couple junctures. Anna Tompkins for the Scotties clipped the deficit to 18-11 and started a 5-1 run to narrow the margin to 19-15. The team in gray responded with four consecutive points and then kills by Samantha Garza (Richmond, Texas) and Theresa Schramm (Plymouth, Wis.) clinched the 2-0 lead in sets.
A 12-2 run started the next frame, and the Crusaders soared to tying their widest margin for victory with the 25-13 final in the first set against LeTourneau University on Friday. Paramo ended that set by throwing down a free ball and getting it past the block attempt by a Scotties player.
Scholz earned a double-double with 14 kills and 20 digs. Paramo just missed garnering double-digits in kills with nine. She had three blocks. Garza contributed five kills. Janysek made 31 assists and the team had 35 overall. UD combined for 15 blocks and were led individually by Schramm with four.
Agnes Scott had 14 blocks with Resa Knott and Alexis Smith also matching the game-high of four total. Smith posted a pair of her blocks as solo ones. Paige Heck led the team with seven kills and Bella Kammerer came up with 21 digs.
UP NEXT
Dallas is on the road September 8th-9th for the Austin College Tournament. These matches will be non-conference as UD takes on McMurry University (2 PM), Sul Ross State University (4 PM) on Friday. The quartet of games concludes the next day with LeTourneau (9 AM) and Concordia University (3 PM).