Southwestern University

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - The Southwestern University Volleyball team gave No. 9 Berry College a battle Saturday afternoon inside the Bell Center but fell 3-1 (17-25, 23-25, 25-21, 21-25). The Pirates move to 8-5 and 1-2 in Southern Athletic Association play.

The Pirates kept the opening set close early, but Berry continued to create separation. Tatum Ahrens helped keep Southwestern within striking distance with four kills, while Kendall Jurgens added three kills. The Pirates were down 18-9 before they put together a 4-0 run, with Ahrens recording two kills during the stretch. Southwestern continued to battle late, but Berry closed the set 25-17 to lead 1-0. 

Southwestern came out strong in the second set, building an 8-5 advantage behind kills from Chloe Blanchard, Ahrens and Sophia Burke. Berry answered to take a 13-10 lead, but the Pirates continued to remain close. After trailing 23-17, SU used a 6-0 run to tie the set at 23-23. Caroline Srubar recorded a kill and two straight service aces to start the comeback, while Blanchard added a kill during the run. Berry eventually tacked on the final two points to win the set 25-23.

The Pirates responded with their strongest set of the afternoon in the third. SU jumped ahead 9-7 early and later led 11-8 before Berry was able to fight back to tie the set at 13 apiece. Southwestern then began to pull away again, with Ahrens and Lucy Riggar providing key kills. The Pirates broke the set open with a 6-0 run, turning a 19-19 tie into a 24-19 lead. Riggar recorded two kills during the stretch, while Brooklyn Spikes and Riggar added kills to help SU finish the comeback and take the set 25-21.

Berry grabbed an early 6-3 lead in the fourth, but Southwestern answered and remained within striking distance. The Pirates later used kills from Burke and Ahrens to stay close before Berry extended its advantage. SU continued to battle and received three kills each from Ahrens, Burke, Riggar and Blanchard in the set. The Pirates could not complete another comeback, however, as Berry closed out the set 25-21 and the match 3-1.

MATCH NOTES

• Southwestern set a new season-high of 85 digs.
• The Pirates recorded 50 kills in the match, which is one shy of their season-high of 51 against Hendrix. 
• Tatum Ahrens led Southwestern with 12 kills.
• Alta Wilson logged a career-high 13 digs.
• Chloe Blanchard collected a season-high seven kills. 
• Lucy Riggar posted a new season-high of eight kills, while Sophia Burke also finished with eight kills.
• Izzy Rodriguez recorded a season-high 31 digs, which is two shy of her career-high. She also passed the 200 dig mark for the season and the 700 mark for her career after today's match. 
• Kendall Jurgens posted a 1.000 hitting percentage after recording five kills on five attacks.