Southwestern University

MARSHALL, Texas – The Southwestern University Volleyball team moved to 6-2 on the season after going 2-0 on day one of the ETBU Tiger Invitational Friday, hosted by East Texas Baptist University. The Pirates have now won five straight after defeating Hendrix College (RV) 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-13) and LeTourneau University 3-0 (27-25, 25-13, 25-16).
 
MATCH ONE | SU 3, HC 1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-13)
 
Southwestern took an early 2-1 lead to start the match with a Tatum Ahrens kill and ace, as she would go on to have a huge match for the Pirates, collecting 21 kills, 14 digs and four service aces. The Pirates then fell behind 11-6 as Hendrix took control before Southwestern pulled within one at 11-10 thanks to three attack errors and two kills by Ahrens. SU continued to battle the Warriors and eventually tied the match at 21-21 and took a 23-22 lead. Southwestern was unable to secure the set win as HC scored three of the final four points for a 25-23 set win.
 
Set two saw the Pirates use an early 5-0 run to grab an 8-3 lead after a 3-3 tie to start the set. SU would not trail again and took a 12-6 lead before Hendrix cut into the deficit to pull within five, but SU responded with another strong stretch late in the set to take a 25-17 win and even the match at 1-1.
 
SU carried the momentum into the third set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead. Hendrix battled back to pull within one at 12-11, but the Pirates used 5-0 run to take a 17-11 lead. The Warriors cut into the lead late, but Southwestern was able to secure the 25-22 set win to go up 2-1.
 
Southwestern opened the fourth set with a 4-0 run and later used a 7-0 stretch to turn a 12-8 lead into a 19-8 advantage. SU continued to control the set from there, closing out the 25-13 victory and securing the four-set win. Ahrens tallied 21 kills in the match while three different Pirates registered four blocks apiece in Kendall Jurgens, Sophia Burke and Evamarie Planchet. Caroline Srubar finished with 44 assists.
 
 MATCH TWO | SU 3, LETU 0 (27-25, 25-13, 25-16)
 
Southwestern took the opening set 27-25 in a back-and-forth battle. SU led 16-12 before LeTourneau rallied to tie the set at 16-16. The Pirates regained a 23-19 advantage, but the YellowJackets again fought back to force a 24-24 tie. Southwestern traded points in extra play before closing out the set 27-25.
 
The Pirates controlled the second set from the middle stages, using a five-point run to turn a 6-6 tie into an 11-6 lead. SU then scored nine of the next 10 points to build a 24-12 advantage before finishing off the YellowJackets 25-13.
 
SU completed the sweep with a 25-16 win in the third set. After LETU pulled within one at 12-11, the Pirates answered with a 7-2 run to take a 19-13 lead. Southwestern continued to pull away late, reaching match point at 24-15 before closing out the sweep.
 
QUOTABLES
HC Don Flora on Today's Matches

"Today we took care of a dynamic and physical Hendrix team.  We were able to put pressure on them from the service line and our offense started to click in the third and fourth sets. Having Tatum Ahrens average five kills in each set was impressive. Caroline Srubar did a nice job balancing her distribution throughout the match and found our middle hitters well as the match played out."
 
"In our second match of the day, we competed well in the first set when some crazy plays happened.  We showed some maturity in taking care of our ball control on our side of the net in that first set. Then it was nice to see a dramatic impact from a number of people around the court in the second and third sets. Found a good rhythm in the second and third sets which shows our offensive numbers."
 
MATCH NOTES

• Tatum Ahrens collected 29 kills across both matches with a career-high 21 against Hendrix. She recorded eight kills in the fourth set versus the Warriors.
• Sophia Burke tallied seven blocks today with four against Hendrix and three versus LETU.
• Caroline Srubar finished the day with 84 assists after logging 44 against Hendrix and 40 in the win over LETU. Srubar also recorded her first career-games with double-digit digs with 11 versus Hendrix and 14 against LETU.
• Izzy Rodriguez finished with 22 digs against Hendrix, marking her second match of the season with 20 or more digs.
• Kendall Jurgens (22) and Sophia Burke (20) have surpassed 20 total blocks on the season.
• Freshman Lucy Riggar posted a career-high seven kills against LETU.

 
UP NEXT
The Pirates will close the ETBU Tiger Invitational tomorrow afternoon as they take on host school No. 4 East Texas Baptist at 2:00 p.m. The game will be streamed on FloCollege.