Aug. 31, 2008

Southwestern's women's volleyball team battled their way to a 3-1 record at the University of Texas-Dallas Gilbert Memorial Tournament this weekend, coming up just short in a tiebreaker game which kept them from first place.

The Pirates came out strong on Friday (Aug. 29), breezing through 3-0 match wins against both University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (25-10, 25-13, 25-8) and Hardin-Simmons University (25-22, 25-12, 25-23).

On Saturday (Aug. 30), the Pirates met their first strong challenge against hosts UT-Dallas, with each side trading wins and losses by narrow margins (25-17, 22-25, 29-27, 23-25). In an exhausting tiebreaker, Southwestern finally fell and conceded the match with a 13-15 loss. UT-Dallas, who remained undefeated throughout the tournament, would go on to claim first place, while Southwestern sealed a second place finish by defeating East Texas Baptist University later in the day in a 3-1 match.

Two junior Southwestern players were named to the all-tournament team: outside hitter Audra Gentry, who racked up 49 kills over the four matches, and libero Sam Lingamfelter, who dove for a combined total of 72 digs.

The Pirates will look to continue their winning record next weekend over September 5th and 6th in Atlanta while at the Emory Tournament, facing off against non-conference opponents Emory University, Haverford College and Averett University.

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