Volleyball falls to Texas Lutheran and No. 3 Southwestern Saturday
SHREVEPORT, La. – The University of Dallas volleyball team fell in two straight set sweeps on Saturday in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Cross-Divisional held at Centenary College. After falling in the first set by two points to Texas Lutheran, the Crusaders were unable to keep up in the match. No. 3 Southwestern University would secure a 3-0 win in the nightcap.
The TLU match went the Crusaders favor at the start with three straight points. A ball handling error started the game and then kills by Rylee Davis (Lampasas, Texas) and Samantha Garza (Richmond, Texas) lifted UD ahead. After two points countered by the Bulldogs, four straight points lifted Dallas in front 7-2. Garza was on serve three of those points and tallied the team's only ace to cap that stretch.
TLU called a timeout and responded with a huge run of nine unanswered points. However, the Crusaders halted the momentum with a kill by Mary Scholz (Fallon, Nev.) and started a string of seven points for them.
Dallas held a three-point lead most of the way until it was 20-17, but could not orchestrate the necessary rally to claim the set. Texas Lutheran scored four times, including consecutive aces by Jaci Chambers to go ahead 21-20.
A service error and blocking error allotted the Crusaders two points for their final lead of the set. The opening frame had five ties and lead changes altogether. A kill by Makenzie Griffin tied the game at 22 and started three straight points for the Bulldogs.
Scholz, who had a team-high 11 kills, posted a crucial one that nip the score to 24-23. However, the Crusaders would lose the final point and fell in the set.
Dallas could not regain the momentum in the next two sets, as the Bulldogs prevailed 25-17 and 25-15.
Scholz recorded her 12th double-double of the year and second in a row with 12 digs to go with her fourth straight match breaking double figures in kills. Davis added six kills, while Diana Hassink (Tulsa, Okla.) led the defense with a team-high 19 digs. Mary Goodykoontz (Chandler, Ariz.) was two assists shy of a personal-best with 18.
Texas Lutheran improved to 14-11 overall and 6-5 at the time in the SCAC. Makenzie Griffin and Bryten Michan paced the offense with 25 kills by clobbering 15 and 10, respectively. Chambers earned 30 digs, while Kelsi Menn (4) and Mitchan (3) combined for seven blocks.
In the second match, nationally ranked Southwestern performed well with double-digit margins of victory in each set. The Pirates claimed wins 25-12, 25-14, and 25-13.
Following a lopsided first set, the Crusaders competed with SU to a 10-10 deadlock in the middle frame. Despite not leading that set, Dallas forced a quartet of ties through the first 20 points. Hassink gained a service ace that brought the score to 10-all. Eight straight points came for the Pirates and ballooned the advantage.
The final set saw two kills by Theresa Schramm (Plymouth, Wis.) and Garza to give UD the early points. The Crusaders scored their first four points by kills with Schramm hitting another and Scholz punching one to make it a 4-2 lead. Their edge went to three on two occasions thanks to a service ace by Stephanie Janysek (Sinton, Texas) and kill by Scholz. After the senior's point made it 8-5, the Pirates went on another big scoring run that started with six in a row. Overall that stretch included SU winning 16 of the next 20 points and improving to 23-4 and 9-3 on the year.
Southwestern posted 15 kills in each of the first two sets and finished with 41 total. Kate Mitchell led the team with eight, while Jamison Duck and Brittany Hohlt had six apiece. Megan Grimes etched 31 assists.
Dallas dropped to 8-18 and 1-11 in the conference after Saturday's two setbacks. Scholz recorded seven kills and Hassink added 15 digs, as the duo led in those respective categories. Schramm turned away four blocks, and the team accumulated 10 altogether.
UP NEXT
Dallas wraps up conference play Sunday with No. 5 Trinity and Schreiner University.