Volleyball sweeps Schreiner for second time this season, splits the day in Group A Divisional

SEGUIN, Texas -- The Texas Lutheran Volleyball squad split a pair of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference matches against Schreiner University and No. 10 Trinity University on Saturday in the Group A Divisional Tournament. 

The split moved the Bulldogs to 6-17 on the year and to 3-7 in conference play. 

The Bulldogs came out with a bang, sweeping Schreiner 25-11, 25-13, 25-18. It was the second time this season they swept the Mountaineers. 

Junior Bryten Mitchan lead the squad with eight kills as Savhannah Kitchens and Madison Weisinger each added seven kills against the Mountaineers. Weisinger boasted a .467 hitting percentage with her seven kills and no errors.  

Peyton Sulak racked up four blocks (2 solo, 2 assists), while Mitchan and Wesinger posted three and two block assists, respectively.

Kelly Jurden dished out all 32 of the Bulldogs' assists, just one under her season-best mark of 33. The sophomore from Brenham, Texas also tallied nine digs and two service aces against the Mountaineers.

Libero Jaci Chambers covered the back court, picking up 24 digs. TLU registered 11 serving aces against SU, with three Bulldogs recording at least two.

The 10th-ranked Trinity Tigers swept the Bulldogs in three to finish off the day. 

A sweep can sometimes signal a blowout, however, the Bulldogs' matchup against the Tigers was anything but. Twice the two teams needed extra points to settle the set, and all three sets were won by just two points.

The Tigers defeated TLU 25-23, 27-25, 26-24.

Texas Lutheran couldn't do enough on its own defensive end to combat the Tigers, as Trinity finished with .271 hitting, the highest mark an opponent has hit against the Bulldogs.
 
The Bulldogs did show some consistent fight, battling back from six-point deficits in two of the three sets. They finished the third set with .276 hitting, an improvement from the .150 percentage in the opening set.

Weisinger had another impressive match, finishing with a double-double in kills and digs to lead the team. She finished with 12 kills on .409 hitting to go along with her 10 digs. The freshmen also added two block assists. 

Sulak followed with eight kills for the Bulldogs. She tallied two of the three serving aces for TLU to go along with her two block assists. Cailey Young notched six kills and three blocks (1 solo, 2 assists). 

When TLU is playing at its best, it's scrapping for every ball on defense, prolonging rallies and making the other team work exceptionally hard to score every point. That's exactly what the Bulldogs did against the Tigers, as three different Bulldogs ended the match with double-digit digs.

Unsurprisingly, the leader was Chambers and her 27 digs. The junior libero accounted for the third serving ace of the match and added three assists to her day.

Jurden was excellent from her setter position. She finished with her eighth double-double of the season, adding 30 assists to go along with her 10 digs. 

The Bulldogs jump right back into conference action next weekend. They travel to San Antonio, Texas and Trinity University for a three-match SCAC pod. They take on No. 5 Colorado College and Johnson & Wales(Colo.) on Saturday, Oct 20 before wrapping up the weekend against University of Dallas on Sunday.