SUWANEE, Ga. - With conference play finished, the seeds have been set for the 2009 SCAC Volleyball championship. For the second consecutive year, the Southwestern University Pirates earned the conference's #1 seed and look to win its first SCAC title since 2005.

Colorado College (#2), DePauw University (#3), Trinity University (#4), Austin College (#5) and Centre College (#6) round out the top six seeds. Following them are #7 Millsaps College, #8 Rhodes College, #9 Hendrix College, #10 Oglethorpe University and #11 Sewanee: The University of the South.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College went 3-2 last week, topping UT-Tyler 3-0 before splitting its four weekend matches at the Austin College Invitational to bring the team’s overall record to 23-9. The ‘Roos topped Dallas 3-0 before falling 3-0 to Hardin-Simmons on Friday and then defeated Concordia 3-0 on Saturday before closing out the weekend with a tough 3-1 loss to McMurry. Jordan Anderton had a strong weekend for the ’Roos, averaging 11.47 assists per game with a .515 hitting percentage and 3.73 digs per game. Jessi Fleming posted a .412 hitting percentage while averaging 3.8 kills and 1.8 blocks per game, and Jenna Wilson added 3.13 kills and 5 digs per game over the course of the week.

Birmingham-Southern played a mid-week match at home this week, defeating Miles College, 3-0, and then split this past weekend at the SCAC East/Central Divisional #2. On Saturday, the Panthers lost to Centre, 3-2, but defeated Oglethorpe, 3-1. On Sunday, they lost to DePauw, 3-1, and beat Millsaps, 3-2. Senior Sarah Harris led the team in kills in three of four matches, junior Christine Denning led in assists in all four matches, and junior Jennifer McKannan led in digs in three of four matches. The Panthers are on the road for their next four matches, traveling to Atlanta for the Emory Halloween Tournament to face Berry College, Randolph-Macon College, LaGrange College, and No. 4 Emory.

Centre went 3-1 over the weekend with conference wins against Birmingham-Southern, Hendrix, and Millsaps while losing a close four game match to DePauw. The 3-1 record secured the sixth place seed for Centre going into the conference tournament on Nov. 6-7 in Atlanta. This is the highest seed for Centre going into the conference tournament since 2005. The Colonels will have three matches this week to help prepare for the upcoming conference tournament. On Wednesday they will honor their seven seniors with a match against Asbury College and on Saturday they will host their annual Halloween Bash with matches against Maryville and Thomas More.

No. 14 Colorado College won the 2009 Molten Volleyball Spike It Up Classic and strengthened its grip on the No. 1 ranking in the West Region by sweeping Chapman University twice on Saturday. The Tigers began the day with a 3-1 win over the Panthers in and then claimed the tournament title with a 3-0 victory on Saturday night. CC improved to 29-3 and extended its current winning streak to eight matches. The 29 victories are already a single-season high for head coach Rick Swan. Junior middle blocker Erika Pirotte was voted the tournament’s MVP, while junior middle blocker Emily Perkins and sophomore setter Amy Schornack also were voted to the all-tournament team. Meredith Ballard had 10 kills and hit .474 to lead the Tiger attack in the championship match.

DePauw swept all four matches at the final SCAC Divisional as it topped Millsaps by a 3-1 (25-15, 19-25, 25-16,25-22) score on Saturday and beat Rhodes, 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-12). On Sunday, the Tigers blanked Birmingham-Southern 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-18) and defeated Centre 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 26-24, 25-17). In DePauw's four matches, Abby Balbach led with 2.5 kills per set, while Paige Thompson paced the squad with 1.4 blocks per set. Ali Smith also led with 10.3 assists per set with Kylee Lehrman totaling six service aces and Madison Hoenig leading with 69 digs. The Tigers' 26 wins is the most since the 2002 team also finished with 26.

Hendrix 2-3 on the week with a five-set loss to Lyon College on Tuesday and a 2-2 record at the second SCAC Central vs. East Divisional Crossover, hosted by Centre College on Saturday and Sunday. Lyon came out on top with a 17-15 win in the final set to hand Hendrix a mid-week 3-2 loss. Warriors’ senior outside hitter Ryan Hughes led the squad with 13 kills in the contest. The Pipers evened the season-series at 1-1. The Warriors won the previous match, 3-0, on Sept. 26. Hughes posted a season-high in kills on 19 attempts. The Warriors opened both days of the SCAC Crossover tournament with wins against Oglethorpe (3-1) and Sewanee (3-0), respectively. Hendrix’s win over Oglethorpe snapped a five game skid. Hendrix suffered a 0-3 affair to Centre on Saturday night and a 2-3 loss to SCAC rival Rhodes College on Sunday afternoon. The Warriors now stand at 10-21 overall and 4-11 in conference action and will look to improve their overall mark in the first ever Hendrix College Ghost Host on Oct. 30 and 31 at Grove Gymnasium.

Millsaps (14-15, 5-9 SCAC) ended a tough week where they went 1-3 in a SCAC Cross-Divisional hosted by Centre College. The Majors opened play with DePauw University on Saturday and fell 3-1 before coming back to sweep Sewanee University 3-0. Starting play Sunday morning, the Majors lost to host Centre 3-1 and dropped a heartbreaking match to Birmingham-Southern College 3-2. Junior Kate Hall led the team with 52 kills and senior Dixie Krauss led the defense with 48 digs over the weekend. Millsaps will return to the friendly confines of The Hangar Dome after its 15-match road trip when Rust College comes to town Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 7:00 p.m. as the Majors prepare for the 2009 SCAC Championship Tournament.

Oglethorpe managed to win one of four conference matches this past weekend. The Petrels were topped by the same score of 3-1 against Hendrix and Birmingham Southern while Rhodes swept the Petrels, 3-0. Oglethorpe managed to tally a victory over Sewanee, sweeping the Tigers by the score of 3-0. Oglethorpe is now 13-19 on the season and will get set to host the 2009 SCAC Volleyball Championships on November 6 and 7.

Rhodes went 3-1 this weekend at the last SCAC East-Central Divisional. The Lynx defeated Sewanee, Oglethorpe and Hendrix in a five set thriller. Senior Middle Blocker Maura Mohler led the Lynx with 15 total blocks on the weekend while Senior Setter picked up another triple double versus Hendrix with 37 assists, 10 kills and 11 digs.

Sewanee fell in all four matches played this weekend at the SCAC East/West Divisional held on the campus of Centre College. Erin Brahm had 52 assists on the weekend. Libby Boddiford led the Tigers in kills for the matches against Rhodes, Hendrix and Oglethorpe with totals of five, five and six. Sewanee's record drops to 0-15 in SCAC play and 3-24 overall. The Tigers will wrap up regular season play on Friday and Saturday as they host Emory and Henry, Piedmont and Huntingdon at Juhan Gymnasium.

No. 12 Southwestern pushed its winning streak to 24 over the weekend with three wins at the Austin College Tournament held in Sherman, Texas. Friday started with the Pirates facing off with McMurry University and Southwestern jumped out early and took the match in three games and then closed out day one with a 3-0 victory over Concordia (TX). The Pirates returned to their stellar early play in Sunday’s match, starting off with a .382 hitting percentage and took game one 25-14. SU made things a little more interesting in the final two games, but found a way to win them 25-22 and 25-21 to take the match 3-0. Senior Audra Gentry led Southwestern with 35 kills over the weekend while sophomore Lindsay Thompson was close behind with 27. Sophomore Christina Nicholls racked up 93 assists and senior Sam Lingamfelter dug up 60 balls in the three contests. Southwestern returns home for its final competition before the SCAC tournament. The Pirates will host Concordia (Wis.), St. Thomas (Texas), Loyola University (La.) and Texas Lutheran at their annual Halloween Tournament on October 30-31.

No. 17 Trinity swept the competition at the Trinity Fall Classic over the weekend. Trinity defeated Texas Lutheran University and University of Texas-Tyler 3-0 to open the tournament, then finished off the weekend with a 3-2 win over Elmhurst College on Saturday afternoon. Ginger Haley was named the Tournament MVP for her performance, which included 26 kills, 15 blocks, and a .404 hitting percentage. Caiti Troyer was also named to the All-Tournament Team, averaging 10.0 assists/set and tallying 30 digs for the Tigers. Trinity will play its toughest tournament of the season this weekend, facing off against three teams ranked in the top 10 nationally. The Tigers play host to top-ranked UW-Oshkosh, second-ranked Juniata, and No. 7 Wittenberg over the two-day Trinity University National Invitational.

For the complete SCAC Spikes Weekly for Week 8, click here.