GEORGETOWN, TEXAS -  Southwestern University Volleyball ended the St. Thomas Invitational undefeated, taking down Howard Payne, Austin College, and tournament hosts University of St. Thomas. The contest between the Pirates and the Austin College Roos ended in a 3-1 margin with the Roos winning set two of the match. Southwestern overcame the Celts in a thriller five set contest, bringing their overall record to 7-2.

"We were very pleased with our balance and offense versus the kangaroos in our first match of the day. Our setters did a very nice job with their balance and their distribution to each hitter. It was super imperative that our blockers stepped up in the third and fourth sets versus Austin College. Giving St. Thomas their first loss of the season was also an important step for our team and our growth together this season. Now we have to use this learning to grow and develop daily in our training in our own gym this week" stated Head Coach Don Flora following the wins on Saturday.

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS

• Junior Kendall Jurgens hit .588 with eleven kills and only one error against Austin College 

• Emily Marks put up a game high of five block assists adding twelve kills for 14.5 points

• Annika Flora led both team in assists with twenty-eight

GAME 1 NOTES

• Southwestern out-hit the Roos 66-52 for kills, hitting a solid .316 for the match

• Madison Ingram had a season high of nine kills

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS

• First-year, Tatum Ahrens hit a season high of sixteen kills adding two block assists and fifteen digs to her stat line

• Middle Blocker, Kendall Jurgens did her job on the net tallying up six total blocks a game high for her

• Izzy Rodriguez was impressive leading the match in digs with a total of thirty-three

GAME 2 NOTES

• Pirates served seven aces in the contest, those coming from Taylor Johnson (3), I. Rodriguez (2), Lauren Baek (1), and Lauren McIntyre (1)

• Southwestern forced a good offensively strong Celts team to hit -.045 in the fifth set 

UP NEXT

• Southwestern heads to Atlanta, Georgia for their first SAA Conference games taking on Sewanee, Oglethorpe, and Millsaps for the weekend of September 20th-21st. 
   

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

#17 Tatum Ahrens - Tournament MVP

#11 Annika Flora 

#7 Izzy Rodriguez