Southwestern University

MARYVILLE, TENNESSEE – The Southwestern University Volleyball team earned its 12^th sweep of the season Friday night after defeating Sewanee 3-0 (25-10, 25-15, 25-19) to start the Maryville College weekend pod. The win moves the Pirates to 18-9 and 9-6 in SAA play.
 
Southwestern took the opening set 25-10, overcoming an early 4-1 deficit with a dominant stretch to take control. The Pirates tied the set at 4-4 before Sewanee briefly regained the lead at 6-5. Southwestern responded with a 4-0 run to move ahead 9-6, then used an even bigger run to pull away. Leading 12-10, the Pirates reeled off 13 straight points to earn the set win.
 
The Pirates carried their momentum into the second set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead behind a strong serving stretch from Carly Caraway and three consecutive kills from Lucy Riggar. Sewanee cut the deficit to two at 8-6, but SU answered with a 3-0 run to extend its advantage. The Tigers continued to hang around, pulling within three at 14-11 before the Pirates created more separation to grab an 18-13 lead. Southwestern closed the set by scoring seven of the final nine points 25-15 victory. Riggar led the way with five kills in the set.
 
Southwestern faced its toughest test in the third set, overcoming a 14-14 tie before pulling away late for a 25-19 win and the sweep. The Pirates opened with an 8-3 lead, but Sewanee would answer and the Tigers eventually tie the match at 14-14. The Pirates responded with back-to-back points from an attack error and a kill by Riggar to regain control. Southwestern maintained the advantage down the stretch, using a late 3-0 run to move ahead 23-19 before Izzy Rodriguez registered a service ace and the Tigers committed an attack error to end the match.

QUOTABLES
Head coach Don Flora on the win...

"We had a really clean start offensively and at the service line, which allowed us to keep a lot of pressure on our opponent tonight. We held them to five kills in the first set, and that set the tone for the match.We had nice balance offensively across the net from our setters. Lauren McIntyre and Caroline Srubar are taking control of the offense well. We did a very nice job behind the service line throughout the night keeping pressure on Sewanee, which helped us defensively behind our block."

"This was a good sign of growth from when we played them the last time around in the SAA."

GAME NOTES

• Izzy Rodriguez collected nine digs tonight and needs 11 more to reach 1000. 
• Lucy Riggar finished with double-digit kills for the ninth time this season. 

NEXT UP
The Pirates will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at noon against Maryville College. The game will be streamed on FloCollege.