Southwestern University

GEORGETOWN, TEXAS – The Southwestern University Volleyball team went 1-1 on Saturday afternoon inside the Robertson Center as the Pirates defeated Maryville College 3-0 (25-9, 25-20, 25-14) to start the day, before falling to No. 15 Trinity University 3-2 (25-18, 25-27, 18-25, 25-20, 11-15). The Pirates move to 13-6 overall and 4-3 in Southern Athletic Association play.
 
MATCH ONE | SU 3, MC 0 (25-9, 25-20, 25-14)

Southwestern set the tone early, jumping out to a 6-1 lead behind strong serving and attacking. The Pirates were able to build a 10-point lead at 16-6 and would only allow three more points, using a 9-3 run to close the set. SU hit .450 in the set with 11 kills.
 
Maryville put up a stronger fight in the second set, but Southwestern carried its momentum from the opening set and led the whole way despite the Scots not backing down. The Pirates took an early 5-1 lead and continued to stack points, taking an 11-5 lead, but the Scots were able to chip away at the score and pulled within four at 12-8. SU extended its lead to seven at 17-10 before Maryville started to comeback. MC cut the deficit to two late at 20-18, but kills from Chloe Blanchard, Alta Wilson and Madison Ingram propelled SU to the 25-20 set win.
 
The Pirates closed the match with their best offensive set, recording 19 kills while hitting .593. The Pirates once again jumped out to a 5-1 lead before MC pulled within two at 6-4. SU built a 4-12 lead, highlighted by a stretch of five kills and an attack error and would continue to string together scoring runs, taking an 18-9 lead. The Scots showed signs of life late, scoring five points, but the Pirates held on to win the set 25-14 and complete the sweep.

MATCH TWO | TU 3, SU 2 (25-18, 25-27, 18-25, 25-20, 11-15).  

Southwestern came out firing in the opening set, building an early 6-1 lead behind kills from Kendall Jurgens and Lucy Riggar, along with a service ace from Lauren McIntyre. Trinity battled back to tie the set at 6-6, but the Pirates responded with a strong scoring stretch that saw them use kills from Wilson, Riggar and Tatum Ahrens to build a 15-9 lead. SU was able to maintain control the rest of the way, taking a 21-13 lead before closing the set 25-18. The Pirates finished the set with 20 kills and hit .545.
 
The second set was back-and-forth battle with neither team able to create much separation throughout. Trinity took a late lead and reached set point at 24-22, but the Pirates fought back to tie the score at 24-24. Southwestern continued to answer, forcing another tie at 25-25 with a kill from Blanchard. Trinity then registered back-to-back kills to take the set 27-25 and tie the match at one apiece.
 
Trinity carried the momentum into the third set, but Southwestern stayed close to start. The Pirates used consecutive kills from Jurgens and a block from Ahrens and Jurgens to move in front 10-8. The teams were tied at 16 before the Tigers pulled away with a strong run to close the set. Trinity used a 6-0 run to take a 22-16 lead before tacking on the final three points to take a 2-1 set lead.
 
Southwestern answered Trinity with a strong performance in the fourth set. After opening with an ace from Ahrens, the Pirates took advantage of Trinity errors and used an ace from Carly Caraway to take a 5-1 lead. The Pirates then took a 9-2 lead and Southwestern continued to stack points, with Ahrens registering back-to-back kills along with one from Burke to take 14-4 lead. Trinity made a late run as they cut deficit to four at 24-20, but the Pirates held on for a 25-20 victory to force a deciding fifth set.
 
The teams traded points early in the final frame, knotting up at 3-3, 5-5 and 6-6. Southwestern went ahead 7-6 after a Trinity attack error before the teams went even again at 9-9. Trinity took advantage of consecutive Southwestern attack errors and added a service ace to take a 12-9 lead. Riggar answered with a kill to bring the Pirates within two, but Trinity remained in control and took a 14-10 lead. Southwestern added one pint before the Tigers secured the match with a kill.

QUOTABLES
Head coach Don Flora on the win over Maryville…
 
"Having a clean and well executed game plan versus Maryville College was pleasing for the coaches to see today. The team vibe was apparent and the entire team committed to playing elite volleyball. Having 11 different athletes record a kill is fantastic to see."
 
On the match against No. 15 Trinity…
 
"Our evening match versus Trinity was a highly competitive and well played volleyball match. We did not finish components of our game plan and that impacted the third set. Seeing our team grind and put the pedal down in the fourth set was great to have us play with confidence and execute a solid set win. Lucy Riggar had a match high (19) kills to go along with an ace and a block. It is good to see her play continue to ascend. Our setters did a nice job getting the middle hitters involved throughout the match. If we can continue to have quality offensive balance we can play at a high level."


MATCH NOTES

• The Pirates hit .446 against Maryville in match one, which is their highest hitting percentage in a match this season and the first time surpassing .400.
• SU recorded a season-high 69 kills against Trinity to pair with a season-high 62 assists.
• Riggar finished with a career-high 19 kills against Trinity.
• McIntyre registered a career-high five service aces against Trinity.
• Burke registered four blocks for the fifth time this season.
• Wilson (107) became the fourth SU player to reach 100 or more kills this season.

 
UP NEXT
The Pirates will return to action tomorrow afternoon at 1:15 p.m. as they host Sewanee to close out the weekend.