Crusaders Battle in Opening Weekend at Dallas Invitational

IRVING, Texas -- The University of Dallas volleyball team hosted McMurry University, St. John Fisher, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Shenandoah University, UW-Superior and Lakeland University, playing four games across Friday and Saturday.  

The Crusaders played in two contests, Nebraska Wesleyan and Shenandoah on Friday night for their first two matches of the season. Dallas came out strong in the first set against Nebraska Wesleyan recording 7 kills. Dallas would go on to drop this set but went toe-to-toe with the prairiewolves, evening the set 14-14 at one point before allowing seven straight. The Crusaders would ultimately run out of gas in set two, 15-25 and set three, 11-25.

The Crusaders settled into their second match up against the Hornets of Shenandoah and found their stride in sets two and three. The Hornets took set three 25-21 and gained the momentum in a true swing set, sealing the match with a 3-2 win over the Crusaders.

With her 13 kills, Aliya Unseth was dialed in and was a driving force in the second match.

On Saturday the Crusaders had their first game of the day, playing St. John Fisher at 12:00 pm.  Once again Dallas made it interesting early on in the first set and fought to the end, dropping three sets to start the second day of contests. Carina Alonso was under seige and rose to the occasion with 17 digs.

The Crusaders faced Lakeland in their final match of the Dallas Invitational, the fourth match of an action-packed Saturday.

Dallas found their footing in the first set, winning 25-23, breaking just about even with nine kills on ten errors.  The Crusaders were right there with the Muskies of Lakeland in the final three sets, 23-25 in set 2, 19-25 in set 3 and 19-25 in the 4th and final set. The Crusaders collectively racking up 40 kills while attempting 141 to end the night.

Up Next

The Crusaders will face Millsaps College, Sept. 6th Friday at 1:00pm in the Rhodes College tournament.