GEORGETOWN, TEXAS -  The Southwestern University Volleyball team opened up SAA Conference play with two games on Saturday, September 20th against Sewanee and Oglethorpe University. Volleyball is the first team of Southwestern Athletics to compete in conference play since Southwestern has become a full member of the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) in the 2025-2026 academic year. The first contest of the day was against Sewanee Tigers, the Pirates dominated that match ending it in three sets with scores of 25-21, 25-21, 25-16. To finish out the day the Pirates faced Oglethorpe University on their home court, Southwestern called game defeating the Petrels in a 3-0 margin. 

Don Flora, head coach stated "Having a clean sweep of two SAA matches to start our new affiliation in the SAA feels good for this team today!  Seeing some areas of hard work transfer to live play is great to see as a team. We were pleased with our setting distribution and our attacking decisions, as the two matches show we hit .314 and .315 respectively.  We also continued to see growth in our blocking focus from practice to gameday."

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS

• Pirates were led offensively by senior Emily Marks and freshman Tatum Ahrens with thirteen kills each, Ahrens also collected three service aces and twelve digs

• Annika Flora and Taylor Johnson combined for thirty-six assists 

• Junior Kendall Jurgens hit .750 with six kills and no errors against Sewanee

GAME 1 NOTES

• Southwestern held the Tigers to just a .091% hitting percentage for the third set, keeping them at a .108% for the match

• Pirates offense tallied forty-four kills on a hundred and two attempts with only twelve errors in the match compared to Sewanee's thirty-one kills

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS

• Madison Ingram hit for a season high eight kills against the Petrels with one solo block and one block assist

• Sophomore middle blocker Brooklyn Spikes helped the Pirates at the net collecting four blocks, a new career-high

• Izzy Rodriguez managed seventeen digs and three assists 

GAME 2 NOTES

• Tatum Ahrens added another three service aces to her stat line bringing her total for the day to six

• Southwestern blocked eight Petrel attack attempts, limiting Oglethorpe's hitting percentage to .068% for the match

UP NEXT

• Southwestern takes on the Millsaps College Majors for another SAA faceoff on Sunday, September 21st at 10:00 AM (CST) to conclude the Oglethorpe Pod in Atlanta, Georgia.