Box Score No. 15 Colorado College was unable to defeat Southwestern University in five sets during the semifinal match of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference on Friday evening in Sherman, Texas.
 
Junior Sophie Merrifield had her best performance of her career as she set the school record for most digs in a single match with a career-high 42 digs against Southwestern. The school record was previously held by Laura Goldsmith with 37 digs against Texas-Dallas on Sept. 7, 2012.
 
Merrifield is now in second place in school history for most digs in a single season with 659 digs and most career digs with 1,747. The libero needs 67 more digs this season to tie her school record 726 digs she set last season.
 
The Pirates, who beat the Tigers 23-25, 25-23, 25-19, 20-25, 15-10, have proved to be a tough opponent for CC as Southwestern has beat the Tigers in the past four matches, including last year's semifinal match in the SCAC tournament.
 
Junior Courtney Birkett and sophomore Abbe Holtze each picked up a double-double to anchor CC's offense. Birkett led the team with a season-high 18 kills along with 12 digs, while Holtze earned 17 kills and 25 digs.
 
Holtze now ranks third in school history for most kills in a season with 476 kills.
 
Southwestern held a two-set lead late in the match, but Colorado College came back to tie the match with a win in the fourth set.  
 
The Tigers held a 7-3 lead in the fifth set, but a service error by CC helped spark an 11-2 run for Southwestern to give them the match.
 
Colorado College swept its quarterfinal match earlier in the day against host Austin College, 25-20, 25-15, 25-16.
 
Holtze and senior Kristen Liberty led the offense with 15 and eight kills, respectively. Merrifield led the defense with 18 digs, while senior Julia Lawton added 12 digs.    
 
Freshman Sarah Barker led the team in both matches with a combined 61 assists.
 
Colorado College, which is now 28-8 on the season, will play the University of Dallas in the third place match of the SCAC tournament. The teams will take action on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT in Sherman, Texas.