The No. 7-ranked Colorado College volleyball team is gunning for its fourth Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship in the last five years when the Tigers travel to San Antonio, Texas, this weekend for the SCAC tournament at Trinity University.
CC, the second seed in the tournament, completed the regular season with a 28-4 overall record and a 13-3 conference mark, and earned a bye in the first round. The Tigers play for the first time on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MT against either No. 6 University of St. Thomas or No. 3 Southwestern University.
The Celts finished the regular season with an 11-17 overall record and a 5-11 mark in SCAC matches.
The Pirates, ranked No. 16 in this week's AVCA Division III Coaches Poll, take a 22-4 overall record and a 12-4 conference mark into Friday's first-round match.
Colorado College won both matches against the Southwestern this season, winning in four sets at both Reid Arena on Sept. 24 and at Schreiner University a month later on Oct. 24.
The Tigers split a pair of matches with UST, winning in four sets on Oct. 2 in Houston before falling in five sets a week later at Austin College.
CC, which has won three of the last four conference championships, has advanced to the title match eight times. The Tigers are 28-9 (.757) all-time in SCAC Tournament matches.
After placing fifth and fourth, respectively, in their first two appearances in 2007 and 2008, Colorado College never has finished lower than third place.
The Tigers are led by a trio of first-team all-SCAC selections.
Georgia Mullins, the SCAC's co-Player of the Year and first-team all-conference selection, leads the league with a .358 hitting percentage, 445 kills, 501 points, 5.0 points per set and 1.06 blocks per set. The senior middle hitter also is second at 4.01 kills per set, 121 total blocks and 15 solo blocks.
Jenny Jenks, the SCAC's Setter of the Year award and first-team all‐conference selection, leads the conference and the nation with 1,213 assists. The sophomore also leads the league in assists per set (11.03), which currently ranks third in Division III. Jenks helped Colorado College post a .252 team hitting percentage, which is second in the SCAC and 10th in the nation.
Isabella Vasquez, who also earned first-team honors, ranks fifth in the SCAC with 300 kills and an average of 3.06 kills per set, and sixth with 343.5 points and an average of 3.5 points per set. The senior outside hitter also is 13th with a .233 hitting percentage. Defensively, Vasquez is 20th with 282 digs and 23rd averaging 2.88 digs per set.
Two other Tigers earned a spot on the all-conference teams.
Isabella Lipacis earned all-conference honors for the second time as a second-team selection. The sophomore outside hitter ranks second in the SCAC with 339 kills and is sixth averaging 3.05 kills per set. She also is second with 402 points and fourth at 3.6 kills per set. Defensively, Lipacis is seventh with 373 digs and her average of 3.36 digs per set, 23rd with 47 total blocks and 36th at 0.42 blocks per set.
Peyton Hummel earned all-conference honors for the first time as a third-team selection. CC's junior libero ranks fourth in the SCAC with a career-high 406 digs and 11th with her average of 3.66 digs per set. She recorded double-digit digs 23 times, including four matches with 20 or more.
On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Trinity University will face either No. 4 Texas Lutheran University or No. 5 Austin College in Saturday's first semifinal match.
The SCAC championship match is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 7, at 11:30 a.m. MT.
The bracket for the NCAA Division III women's volleyball championship will be announced on Monday, Nov. 8, at 10:30 a.m. MT.
Colorado College has made 22 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
