UD Volleyball Drops in SCAC Tournament at #1 Colorado College
(Photo Courtesy of Charlie Lengal)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Dallas volleyball team dropped its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Quarterfinals matchup to No. 1 Colorado College on Saturday evening. The top-seeded Tigers were able to secure a 3-0 victory over the No. 8 Seed Dallas to advance after picking up wins with set scores of 25-18, 25-20, 25-19. The Crusaders were a pesky opponent that kept up with the Tigers in the later stages of each frame, but the nationally ranked Tigers were able to find control in the closing serves to keep its winning streak in sets alive and its perfect season intact.
The first set saw the Crusaders hit its highest mark in a set with a .200. After falling behind three points to start, the Crusaders came within two on a few early occasions. A 6-2 run got UD within one point at 11-10, as Cassie Dyoub (Frisco, Texas) and Ellise Anable (Phoenix, Ariz.) picked up consecutive kills to close the gap. The Tigers responded with three-of-four points and it took two more UD kills, this time by Dayjah Whyte (Round Rock, Texas) and Anable to make it 14-13. Dallas came within a point a couple of occasions, but never led in the first set. Colorado College grasped an 18-16 lead, and after an attack error by the home team led to that margin it was all Tigers with five points in a row and seven-of-nine to close the set.
Colorado College jumped out to a 9-2 advantage in the second set. After a UD timeout, it took some time for the guests to climb back in, but after trailing by seven at another juncture (14-7) in the set; A big rally with seven of the next 11 points toward the Crusaders narrow the gap to 16-12. The Tigers went up 22-14, but with Larissa Ramirez (San Antonio, Texas) on serve it got UD down to a four-point margin that came after four points in a row. Dyoub and Faith Daniels (San Antonio, Texas) had a block assist and Isabel Garcia (San Antonio, Texas) added a kill. CC was held to a .192 hitting percentage in the second set, after hitting north of .300 in the other two sets.
The third set had these teams exchanging points in the early going, and UD took its first lead with an 8-7 advantage. After an opposition point, Dyoub pummeled a kill for a 9-8 lead. Georgia Mullins had two of the next three serves won by a kill and managed to get a block on third play of that mini-outburst. That surge turned out to be a 6-1 run that put the Tigers up 14-10. After coming within four (18-14) points, the home squad put the game away with three points in a row to go up seven (21-14) and closed the match with seven of the last 12 serves won. Dallas secured 12 kills as a team in that third set, which was the most by the Crusaders in a set on the day.
Anable was UD's top hitter with 10 kills. She was the lone UD player eclipse double-digits in kills and hit .259. Whyte also hit well at .300 and had eight kills. Dyoub chipped in six kills and Daniels added four in their first SCAC Tournament appearance. Larissa Ramirez (San Antonio, Texas) posted 29 assists. Moriah Delgado (Fort Worth, Texas) had a team-high 19 digs. Ramirez was the other double-digit player in a category on Saturday with 12 digs.
A trio of Tigers led the way in kills with Allie Freeburg getting 14 kills for a game-high. Isabella Vasquez had 11 kills and digs, while Mullins completed the group with 10 kills and a .588 hitting percentage. Isa Aragon-Menzel had 36 assists and 10 digs for a double-double.
The victory for Colorado College lifts the team to 15-0 and it will play at home against Austin College sometime the following weekend and it will be the 13th straight trip to the SCAC volleyball semifinals for the Tigers.
UD concludes its season at 3-12.