SUWANEE, Ga. - The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference opened its 19th year of volleyball the week of Aug. 31 through Sept. 6. After one week of play, Colorado College and DePauw University are both off to identical 5-0 starts, while Austin College won five of its first six matches.

AROUND THE SCAC

After opening the year with a tough 3-2 loss to Southwest Assemblies of God, Austin College has reeled off five straight victories to start the season with a record of 5-1 overall. The team’s first victory of the year gave head coach Ed Garza his 400th career coaching victory. The ’Roos swept through the University of Dallas Festival with four wins, three of which were by scores of 3-0. Jenna Wilson was named the Festival MVP and Jordan Anderton and Jessi Fleming were each named All-Tournament. Fleming led the ’Roos with averages of 2.81 kills and 1.38 blocks per game over the first week of action, while Wilson averaged 2.6 kills, 4.65 digs and had eight service aces. Anderton averaged a team best 10.05 assists and added 2.95 digs per game for the ’Roos, who also got 12 aces and 1.7 digs per game from first year player Kelly McDaniel.

Birmingham-Southern opened the 2009 season this weekend, going 1-1 at home against Martin Methodist College. MMC defeated the Panthers, 3-0, Friday evening, but BSC came back to win 3-1 Saturday afternoon. Senior Sarah Harris led the team with 36 kills over the two matches, followed by her sister, sophomore Sarah Harris, with 17 kills. Both players hit .260 on the weekend. Sarah Harris and junior libero Jennifer McKannan each led with 33 digs apiece (4.71/set), and junior setter Christine Denning led with 72 assists (10.29/set). The Panthers are on the road this weekend at the Rhodes Fall Classic, Friday and Saturday.

Centre lost to Mt St Joe in the opening match of the year in five games before rebounding to take the Kalamazoo tournament Championship with a perfect 4-0 record over the weekend. Centre beat Franklin and Baldwin-Wallace on Saturday night in three games to earn the right to play in the championship pool on Sunday. Centre opened play on Sunday morning against the host school, Kalamazoo, and won a very dramatic five game match; which included a come from behind fourth game to force the fifth game. The Colonels were down two games to one going into the fourth game and started off down 0-14 in the fourth game before outscoring Kalamazoo 25-4 to win the game 25-18 and then go on to win the fifth game 16-14. They beat Olivet in three quick games to capture the tournament title.

No. 15 Colorado College sophomore Meredith Ballard and freshman outside hitter Laura Goldsmith were voted to the all-tournament team at the 2009 Molten Volleyball Pikes Peak Challenge. The Tigers won their season-opening tournament for the fourth time in the last five seasons. Ballard hit .403 and averaged 2.07 kills and 0.47 digs for the week. Goldsmith had 13 kills to lead the Tigers to a victory over Whitworth, which finished second in the tournament with a 3-1 record. She had 11 digs in the 3-1 win over Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Sophomore middle blocker Haley Hamilton had six kills on nine attacks without an error to lead CC to a 3-0 victory over Benedictine University.

DePauw opened the season with five straight wins for the first time since 1998 as the Tigers lost just one set in the process. After opening with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-12) win at Marian (Ind.), the Tigers captured the Capital University Volleyball Opener. DePauw topped Muskingum 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-23) and Penn State-Altoona 3-1 (25-23, 25-17, 19-25, 25-19) on Friday before wrapping up pool play with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-17) victory over St. Mary's (Ind.) on Saturday. In the title match the Tigers defeated host Capital 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-13). DePauw totaled 34 aces, paced by Kylee Lehrman's 14. Madison Hoenig recorded 3.9 digs per set and Kristen Chynoweth had 1.6 blocks per set.

Hendrix traveled to Sherman, Texas to compete in the University of Dallas Festival on Friday and Saturday, and finished with a 1-3 record. Hendrix suffered a 1-3 loss to host Dallas before losing a 0-3 affair to McMurry University on Friday. The Warriors opened Saturday with a 0-3 loss to Hardin-Simmons University before ending the weekend on a good note with a 3-2 win over Concordia University. Hendrix junior libero Kim Larson was named to the All-Tournament Team and finished the weekend with a team-high 70 digs and nine aces.

Millsaps opened the 2009 season hosting the Millsaps Invitational and posted a 2-2 record. The Majors opened Friday night with a hard-fought 3-1 loss to Piedmont College, but rebounded in the nightcap to defeat cross-street rival Belhaven 3-1 in front of a rambunctious crowd at The Hangar Dome. Saturday afternoon, Millsaps lost the opening match to Union University (Tenn.) 3-1, but again rallied to defeat Loyola University-New Orleans in a thrilling five-set match 3-2. Junior Kate Hall led the attack for the Majors finishing the weekend with 64 total kills, while senior Dixie Krauss totaled 82 digs to lead the defense. Millsaps will head to Memphis, Tenn., this weekend for the Rhodes College Tournament where they will play another four matches.

The Oglethorpe University volleyball team got their season started this past week by going 3-4 in seven matches. The Petrels began by winning their first three over Covenant (3-2), Spelman (3-0) and Moltnomah (3-0) before losing their last four in Clearwater, Florida to Kentucky Christian (3-1), Trinity Florida (3-1), Montreat (3-0) and Clearwater (3-0). The Petrels are back in action this Tuesday night when they host LaGrange College on Pinholster Court at 7:00 p.m.

Rhodes opened the 2009 season at the Millsaps Invitational and came away from the event with a 1-3 record. The Lynx split two matches on Sept. 4 losing to Loyola (La.) 3-0 and then defeating Piedmont 3-1. Rhodes then lost a hard fought match against NAIA foe Belhaven (Miss.) 3-2 on Sept. 5 and then finished the tournament on the wrong end of a 3-0 score to Union (Tenn.). The Lynx return to the court Sept. 8 when they travel to Searcy, Ark. to take on Harding University before returning to Memphis to host the Rhodes Invitational.

Sewanee went 1-3 this weekend, hosting Rust College, LaGrange, Mississippi College and Huntingdon. New coach Katy Caine earned her first win as a collegiate head coach in the Tigers fist match, which was a 3-0 shutout of Rust. Libby Boddiford had better than 30 kills for the Tigers on the weekend, while newcomer Erin Brahm logged 85 assists. The Tigers return to action next weekend as they travel to Gambier, Ohio for games against Kenyon, Bluffton, Ursuline and John Carroll on Friday and Saturday.

No. 20 Southwestern ended week one with a 2-3 record. They started with a home match against the University of Dallas in which they won in straight games 3-0 (25-8, 25-12, 25-18). Senior Audra Gentry led the way with 11 kills while first-year Rachel Thibodeau put down 11 in 15 attempts with no errors to lead in hitting percentage (.545). Southwestern then headed to Ada, OH for a tournament with some of the toughest competition in the nation including the school that finished fourth in the nation in 2008 and host school, Ohio Northern. The Pirates opened up against Thomas More and won in five sets and then was narrowly defeated in their remaining three games, falling 3-1 to Heidelberg, 3-0 to Ohio Northern, and 3-2 to Calvin.

No. 16 Trinity opened up its season with a flurry of matches, going 5-2 overall during its first week of play. The Tigers swept Mary Hardin-Baylor and Schreiner to open its season last Tuesday, and then defeated Concordia (TX) 3-0 the very next night. Over the weekend, the team hosted the Trinity River City Classic and split its matches both days. Trinity lost to Our Lady of the Lake University of the NAIA 3-2, then defeated 14th-ranked California Lutheran 3-1 to close the first day. After a 3-1 loss to UT-Dallas – a 2008 NCAA playoff team – Trinity finished the tournament with an exciting 3-2 win over Bridgewater College. Caiti Troyer was named to the All-Tournament team, leading Trinity in assists in all four matches, and also leading the team in digs three times. The Tigers travel to California this weekend, taking on Pomona-Pitzer, Redlands, Whitworth, and third-ranked La Verne over a two-day tournament. Trinity returns home the following weekend to open SCAC play.

For the complete SCAC Spikes Weekly for Week 1, click here.