GEORGETOWN, Texas – Southwestern University Volleyball kicked off a successful weekend with a win over conference opponent Austin College.
Although the Pirates dropped the first set by a margin of 23-25, Southwestern was able to rattle off three set wins to take the 3-1 victory. Riley Brantley paced the Pirates offensively with 15 kills, only one error, and an incredible .424 hitting percentage.
Libero Geneva Nedrow was the base of the Pirate's defense all weekend long, in her game against Austin, Nedrow led the Pirates with 13 digs and ensured the Pirate's clean offensive opportunities.
"Having the depth and talent from these women shined for us today in a quality win against a tough defensive team in Austin College, we had numerous people step up in critical situations to earn this conference win", recalls Head Coach Don Flora.
The definition of domination was read out loud and clear as the Pirates cruised to a 3-0 victory over Centenary College (La.) on Senior Night at the Corbin Robertson Center.
"When you celebrate all the things that these seven seniors have given to our program before the game it just makes for a special match and a special night"
"We saw all seven seniors make exciting plays that fired up a great crowd of students, family, and Pirate fans, the energy in the Robertson was special. All of our seniors showed that their dedication to learning has developed them into a cohesive team over the years," says a proud Coach Flora.
The Pirates used numerous big scoring runs throughout the contest to put away the Ladies 25-14, 25-8, 25-21 in straight sets.
Southwestern's defensive effort held the Ladies to just 20 kills on 94 attacks and 19 errors for a measly .0106 hitting percentage.
The Pirates, on the other hand, attacked at blistering a .398 clip on 43 kills with 14 errors on 108 attempts.
With the first set tied at 8-8, Southwestern sprinted out to a 20-10 lead on a 12-2 run, The Pirates then ended the first set on a 5-1 run including a Centenary service error and two attack errors for the final three points of the set.
Set two was all Southwestern after Centenary fell behind 6-4 early and saw the Pirates break out the strong defensive effort forcing the Ladies into eight attack errors en route to a 13-1 run to push the score out to 19-5.
Centenary managed to put back-to-back points together to draw to within 19-7, but Southwestern used a 6-1 run to finish off the set thanks to a pair of kills by Erica Otto and Emma White each.
Set three saw the Pirates spring open a 5-1 run then both teams settled into a see-saw affair the rest of the way. Centenary got as close as 19-18, but Southwestern proved too much as Claire Romo cemented the win when she dispatched the final point of the match.
White narrowly missed a double-double with 10 kills and eight digs to go along with two service aces. White hit at an astounding .360 pace with one error in 25 attempts.
Riley Brantley was just as dominant in her attacks going for seven kills on 15 attempts with just one error for a .400 hitting percentage.
Katelyn Whitehead and Romo masterfully directed the offense with 18 and 14 assists, respectively. Abi Benavides led the defensive effort with 10 digs while Christina Kuras, Otto, and Brantley added two block assists each.
The Pirates put together a blistering performance en route to an easy 3-0 victory over the University of Dallas on Sunday afternoon.
The Pirates improved to 9-6 overall and 5-0 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference with the 25-10, 25-17, 25-19 victory over the Crusaders (6-11, 0-6 SCAC).
Southwestern's offensive performance was so pristine through the first two sets that the Pirates committed just two attack errors in 60 swings while also converting 30 kills for a .500 hitting percentage.
"We were able to get off on the right foot today with our offensive rhythm and high level of digging from the back row. Geneva Nedrow really set a high-quality tone from behind the service line for the team to start the match in set one."
"Our offensive balance was tremendous from the setters today. The balance allowed us to unload on some balls, but we still made thoughtful decisions that scored well today," says Coach Flora.
Dallas hit a mere 16-10-69 for a dismal .087 hitting percentage.
Emma White turned in another brilliant performance with 13 kills and 10 digs. The 5-foot-10 senior outside hitter from Lucas, Texas, has racked up eight double-doubles this season.
White's offensive outing was highlighted by a .591 hitting percentage as she did not commit an attack error in 22 attempts.
Christina Kuras joined white in the double-digit kill column with 10 of her own while adding three digs and three block assists.
The setting duo of Claire Romo and Annika Flora masterfully directed the offense by dishing out 20 and 18 assists, respectively.
Geneva Nedrow led the way on defense with 16 digs in addition to six assists and two service aces.
The raucous crowd inside the Corbin Robertson Center saw the Pirates win easily and remain tied atop the SCAC standings alongside Trinity.
UP NEXT
The Pirates will travel to Colorado Springs next weekend for a trio of conference matches. Southwestern will take on Trinity and Schreiner on Friday and then conclude the weekend with Colorado College.