SUWANEE, Ga. - The Southwestern University Pirates, with a 3-1 win over Colorado College in the SCAC championship match, earned the program's third outright and fourth overall SCAC championship Nov. 7. The win earned Southwestern an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College went
2-1 at the SCAC Tournament this weekend, falling in its first match
3-2 to No. 17-ranked Trinity before topping Rhodes and Centre each
by scores of 3-0 to take fifth place at the championship. The
’Roos, who entered the tournament as the five seed, fell
11-25, 25-20, 25-23, 16-25, 10-15 to the Tigers in their first
match of the weekend despite 19 kills and seven blocks from Jessi
Fleming, who was announced as a 2nd Team All-SCAC performer during
the tournament. Jordan Anderton, a 3rd Team All-Conference
selection, had 45 assists and Jenna Wilson added 18 digs. In a 3-0
win over the Lynx Fleming again led the way with 11 kills and five
blocks, while Kelly McDaniel added 15 digs, and Chitra Kavouspour
paced the ’Roos with 14 kills while Anderton added 35 assists
and Wilson had 15 digs in the team’s 25-13, 25-22, 25-20 win
over Centre to close out the weekend.
Birmingham-Southern wrapped up the 2009 season
this past Wednesday night at home with a match against Bryan
College. The Panthers won 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-15), led by senior
Sarah Harris, who was honored in a pregame ceremony, with 17 kills
as well as 12 digs. Junior Christine Denning, who recently earned
Third-Team CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, led with 40
assists, and junior Jennifer McKannan led with 15 digs. Freshman
Alexis Pappas led with three blocks. The Panthers end the season
with a 16-18 record.
Centre competed at the SCAC Championship Nov. 6-7.
The sixth-seeded Colonels finished the two day tournament with a
2-2 record and a sixth-place finish. On Friday, Nov. 6 Centre
opened the tournament with a 3-1 win over 11th-seeded Sewanee
before falling to third-seeded DePauw, 3-1. On Saturday, the
Colonels picked up a 3-0 win over host Oglethorpe University before
dropping a 3-0 decision to Austin College.
No. 13 Colorado College finished the SCAC
Championship with a 2-1 record and a second place finish. The
Tigers started the weekend off with a 3-0 sweep of host Oglethorpe
University to advance to the semifinals. On day two, CC earned a
tough 3-2 win over DePauw to advance to the championship match. In
the championship match, the Tigers split the first two matches with
Southwestern before the Pirates took the next two and the SCAC
championship. The Tigers, however, earned a 12th straight trip to
the NCAA Division III Tournament and a No. 1 seed in the West
region. CC will play the winner of Cal Lutheran and Puget Sound on
Nov. 13 at 4:30 PT.
No. 24 DePauw finished the regular season with a
28-9 overall record and placed fourth at the SCAC Championship. The
Tigers opened with a 3-1 (25-19, 25-17, 23-25, 25-14) win over
Centre before falling to 13th-ranked Colorado College 3-2 (25-19,
18-25, 26-28, 25-18, 15-10) in the semifinals. Trinity, ranked 17th
in the nation, topped DePauw in the third-place match 3-0 (25-17,
25-23, 25-22). Katey Larson and Kristen Chynoweth each averaged
2.42 kills per set and Paige Thompson hit .269 for the weekend. Ali
Smith, who earned a spot on the all-tournament team, averaged 10.5
assists per set. Abby Balbach had seven aces, while Madison Hoenig
totaled 68 digs and Chynoweth had 13 blocks.
No. 8 seed Rhodes College handed No. 9 seed
Hendrix a straight set loss in the opening affair
of the 2009 SCAC Championships hosted by Oglethorpe University on
Friday afternoon. The loss to Rhodes sent the Warriors to a fight
for ninth place against the No. 7 seed Millsaps College on Saturday
afternoon. Millsaps posted a come-from-behind win in five sets to
hand Hendrix a 10th place finish at this year’s
championships. The Majors fell back 1-2 and then took the last two
sets 25-16 and 15-12. Hendrix wraps up 2009 with a 12-25 overall
record and finished two spots back from its eighth place mark in
last year’s SCAC Championships. Warriors’ junior
outside hitter Becca Clancy led the team with 16 kills over the two
games, while senior outside hitter Ryan Hughes added 14 kills to
the mix. Junior libero Kim Larson added a team-best 34 digs and
first year setter Danielle Young dished out 33 assists.
Millsaps opened the
SCAC Championship Tournament falling to host and 10th-seeded
Oglethorpe University, 3-2, Friday afternoon before rebounding to
defeat Sewanee: The University of the South 3-0 and Hendrix College
3-2 on Saturday to finish 9th place. Sophomore Maggie Tumminello
led the Majors’ offense with 38 kills in the three matches
and senior Dixie Krauss led the defense with 48 digs as Millsaps
ended the season at the .500 mark for the first time since the 2004
season at 17-17 overall.
Oglethorpe hosted the Southern Collegiate Athletic
Conference volleyball championship Nov. 6-7. The 10th-seeded Stormy
Petrels earned an upset win over seventh-seeded Millsaps, 3-2 in
its first match. Oglethorpe then dropped a straight-sets decision
to the sixth-seeded Centre College Colonels before finishing in
eighth place with a 3-1 loss to eighth-seeded Rhodes College.
Rhodes finished the SCAC Championship with a 2-2
record and seventh place finish. The Lynx won the
tournament’s opening match, by topping ninth-seeded Hendrix
College in straight sets. Rhodes then dropped a 3-1 decision to No.
1 seed Southwestern. From there, the Lynx lost in straight sets to
fifth-seeded Austin College before finishing the tournament with a
win over host Oglethorpe, 3-1.
Sewanee dropped both contests at the SCAC
Championship at Oglethorpe University Nov. 6-7. The Tigers lost a
3-1 decision to sixth-seeded Centre College then dropped a
heartbreaking match to seventh-seeded Millsaps College, 3-2.
Sewanee finished the season with a 3-29 record.
The No. 1 seeded Southwestern University Pirates
defeated second seeded Colorado College 3-1 on Saturday evening -
earning the Pirates their fourth Southern Collegiate Athletic
Conference championship and first since a co-championship with
Trinity University in 2005. Southwestern won by scores of 25-23,
19-25, 25-15 and 25-23. Southwestern advanced to the championship
by beating rival and defending SCAC champion Trinity in the
semifinals, by the same 3-1 margin. By winning the SCAC
championship, the Pirates earn the conference's automatic qualifier
into the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship. Southwestern
also fared well, winning three of the four major individual end of
the year awards including Player-of-the-Year (Audra Gentry –
second straight win), Backrow Player-of-the-Year (Samantha
Lingamfelter – third straight win) and Coach-of-the-Year
(Hannah Long – second straight win). The Pirates will host
the South region and will begin NCAA play on Nov. 12 when they host
the University of Dallas (20-19) at 7 p.m.
No. 17 Trinity finished third at the SCAC
Tournament over the weekend, winning the Third Place Match over
DePauw on Saturday. Trinity came from behind to beat Austin College
in the opening match of the tournament, then lost a 3-1 decision to
Southwestern in the semifinals. DePauw and Trinity met for the
third time this year in the Third Place Match, with Trinity earning
the 3-0 win to close out the regular season for both teams. Alexis
Edwards tallied 55 digs in the three matches, earning a spot on the
SCAC All-Tournament Team. Though Trinity failed to win the SCAC for
the first time in 12 seasons, the Tigers were still invited to the
NCAA Playoffs for the 18th consecutive season, dating back to 1992.
Trinity was in the NCAA Quarterfinals in 2006, and the team has
been in the NCAA Semifinals twice – in 1999 and 2002.
For the complete SCAC Spikes Weekly for Week 10, click here.