Volleyball Takes Down Centenary, Spilts Double-Header

SHREVEPORT, La. - The University of Dallas women's volleyball team split their double-header on Saturday.  They won their conference matchup with Centenary College 3-2, then lost a non-conference match with LeTourneau 3-0; they are now 7-12 on the year and 1-6 in conference play.

The match with Centenary was a five set roller coaster ride.  Dallas came out swinging in set one, crushing the Ladies by 12 points, matching their largest margin of victory of the season, only for Centenary to come right back with a 10 point win in set two.

Dallas looked as though they had bounced back, taking the first four points of set three and eventually leading 12-6, but the Ladies scored seven unanswered points to take a 13-12 lead.  The Crusaders managed to climb back on top at 20-16, but Centenary took set three with a 10-4 scoring run.

It was anyone's game in set four with Centenary clinging to a lead early on, but this time the crusaders went on an 11-2 tear to put themselves in the driver's seat.  Centenary managed to cut their deficit to single digits, but Dallas would take the set comfortably at 25-18 to force set five.

Once again, Dallas jumped out to an early lead, but Centenary stayed right with them.  The two sides were matching each other point for point late in the set, but the Crusaders were finally able to finish them off with a pair of points to end the game.

The Crusaders hit .258 as a team, their third best mark of the season.  Cassie Dyoub had a monster game, matching her season-high of 20 kills with just six errors while hitting .368.  Layo Akinyede had 11.5 points with nine kills on no errors, hitting .450 with two solo blocks and a block assist.  Larissa Ramirez had a season-high 30 assists, and Chloe Ilagan had a season-high 20 digs.

LeTourneau put up a much tougher fight for the Crusaders, taking sets one and two by double digits.  Dallas racked up 14 kills in set three, but it was too little, too late.  They led by as many as three points, but the Yellow Jackets would hold on for the 26-24 win to complete the sweep.

Up Next

The Crusaders are back on the road for a conference crossover next weekend at Austin College.  They will face Southwestern at 11:00 a.m. and Texas Lutheran at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14.