GEORGETOWN, TEXAS - Southwestern University Volleyball has advanced to the SCAC Championship Final following a 3-0 sweep over McMurry and a hard fought five set win in the semifinal over the University of St. Thomas, who upset Colorado College earlier that day. The Pirates will face Trinity University in a "winner-take-all" contest as the Pirates are 1-1 against the Tigers this season. Trinity and Southwestern rank #18 and #19 in the AVCA Coaches Poll, respectively.

"This was a day where our team grinded, sticking together to put away McMurray in three straight sets and defeating a hard working St. Thomas program. We were solid defensively all day with our middles Madison and Brooklyn while Geneva anchored our serve receive and defensive intensity."

"Our staff is proud of our offensive balance and that both right sides took competitive and big swings all day. And in crunch time against St. Thomas, Claire and Annika balanced the offense together really well," recaps Head Coach Don Flora.

QUARTERFINAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Emily Marks put up a game high fifteen digs against the War Hawks while also tallying three block assists for 16.5 points. The right side hitter posted a .387 percentage for the match. 
• Christina Kuras was second in the game for total kills at ten, also hitting .350 for the match with a block assist.
• Geneva Nedrow helped out the Pirate offense with nine assists against McMurry, the senior libero also dug fourteen balls for a game high. 

SEMIFINAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Annika Flora distributed twenty four assists to Pirate hitters and was also second on the team in total digs with fourteen. 
• Madison Ingram went for nine kills, three aces, five digs, three block assists and two block solos, scoring a total of 15.5 points which was a game high against the Celts. To add on, Ingram hit .389, which was also a match-high. 
• Marks and Kuras again went for double digit kills against St. Thomas with twelve and eleven respectively. 

NOTES

• Carly Berkman posted seventeen kills for the tournament so far with a block assist in each match. 
• Brooklyn Spikes concluded the day with seven kills and three block assists for the Pirates. 
• Claire Romo assisted Pirate hitters thirty two times across both matches as well as thirteen digs.

UP NEXT

• The Pirates go up against Trinity for the third time this season in the SCAC Championship, Saturday at 3:00 PM in Sherman, Texas.