
GREENCASTLE, Ind. – #18 Southwestern took care of business
this past weekend at the SCAC West/East Crossover hosted by DePauw,
willing all four contests including their final match against #11
Trinity. With the wins SU improves to 14-3 overall and remains
perfect in SCAC conference matches with a 7-0 record.
The Pirates opened the weekend on Saturday against Oglethorpe
University. Senior Lindsay Thompson played in just one game of the
match but still managed to lead in kills with 10 and total blocks
with 6 to help the Pirates roll to a 3-0 win, 25-9, 25-18, 25-8.
Sophomore setter Christina Nicholls recorded 29 assists while
senior Sam Lingamfelter led in service aces (3) and digs (14).
After a strong opening, SU moved on to face crossover host DePauw.
Southwestern started a little slow, dropping game one 25-18, but
quickly rebounded to win the final three games easily 25-16, 25-21
and 25-15. Senior Audra Gentry recorded 19 kills while Nicholls had
40 assists. Lingamfelter did her part in the back row, digging 29
balls during the contest.
With a solid day one under their belt, the Pirates picked up where
they left off to face Sewanee in their first game on Sunday. The
Tigers proved to be no match for the streaking Pirates as SU easily
won 3-0, 15-10, 25-7, 25-11. First-year Rachel Thibodeau looked
impressive as she led in both service aces (4) and digs (8) for the
match.
The final match would pit the Pirates against conference rival
Trinity. SU started the contest in a position a bit unfamiliar to
them, as ranking underdogs, with Southwestern listed at #18 in the
most current national-rankings and Trinity at #11.
Game one showed just how competitive this match was going to be as
SU edged out the Tigers 26-24 to jump to a 1-0 lead. The teams
would alternate games with Trinity taking games two and four and SU
winning games one and three to set-up the crucial game five,
reminiscent of the NCAA Regional Semi-final contest last
season.
The Pirates were able to piggy-back off the momentum they
accumulated in game four, battling back from being down 8-2 to
narrowly drop the fourth game 22-25. Senior Reese Cisneros
(pictured) rattled off six straight serves to start game five and
SU never looked back, capturing the final game 15-6 and the match
3-2.
Gentry led the way with a colossal 26 kills and 29 digs for
Southwestern. Nicholls had a huge match as well, recording 62
assists.
The Pirates will take the week off before heading to Belton, Texas
for a non-conference match with the University of Mary
Hardin-Baylor on October 6th.