Aug. 28, 2008

The Chase

After three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, Southwestern University looks to continue its postseason streak as the Pirates return two starters plus their libero from last year's 30-12 squad (11-7 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) that finished 25th in the nation. The Pirates finished 5th in the SCAC in regular season play and climbed to third place in the post-season conference tournament.

The Bucs received 83 votes and are predicted to finish 5th according to the SCAC Preseason Poll.

Juniors Take Aim

Head coach Hannah Long will count on the play of junior middle blocker Lauren Brown and junior outside hitter Audra Gentry (third team All-SCAC) as well as junior libero Samantha Lingamfelter (second team All-SCAC, AVCA All-South Region) to lead Southwestern in its quest for a fourth-straight 30-win season. Along with these three, the Bucs will return 6 letterwinners and have 11 new faces on the squad.

Brown led Southwestern in hitting with 275 attack percentage and Gentry had a team-high with 471 kills in 2007. And after just two seasons, Lingamfelter is the SCAC's all-time career leader in digs per game (5.23). She led the league with 786 digs last season.

The Pirates will have to replace Marie Bruce (first team All-SCAC, AVCA All-South Region), who graduated with the second highest assists per game average (11.04) in league history, as well as Katy Lukaszewski (second team All-SCAC, ESPN All-Academic South Region), who was second on the team in both kills (429) and digs (502) a year ago.

Last season, Southwestern was defeated in the semifinal round of the NCAA South Region tournament. Southwestern's three-year NCAA postseason streak is tied for the second-longest active streak among conference teams.

Opening Weekend

The Pirates will travel to Dallas, TX to compete in the UTD Gilbert Labor Day Kickoff Tournament.  On Friday, August 29,  they will face the University of Mary Hardin Baylor at 5 PM and then Hardin-Simmons at 7 PM.  Play resumes on Saturday, August 30, as the Bucs take on UT-Dallas at noon and then finish the weekend of with a match against East Texas Baptist at 2 PM.

Courtesy of the SCAC Office and SU Sports Information Department