The Tigers won six straight sets in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the SCAC Tournament in Georgetown, TX on Friday, Nov. 10. The Colorado College volleyball team was staring down the potential end of their season, down 2-0 against Southwestern in the opening round. However, the No. 3 seed quickly turned it around and won six consecutive sets, including a sweep in the semifinal against Texas Lutheran.
The Tigers will play No. 1-seeded Trinity on Saturday in the finals at 10 a.m. MT.
Outside hitter
Carolyn Dormady had a career day with a combined 28 kills, including 25 against the Pirates. Setter
Jenny Jenks averaged 13 assists per set and the Tigers hit a combined .203 clip over the two games.
Colorado College 3, Southwestern 2
Dormady, fresh off being named an All-SCAC Second Team selection, racked up a career-high 25 kills. The Tigers kept playing the hot hand as Dormady had 19 kills in the last three sets. Senior
Isabella Lipacis followed it up with 17 kills of her own while
Keeley Kandziora and
Brooke Brilliant combined for 24.
The Tigers went down in sets 2-0 against the Pirates after losing the first set 27-25 and then the second 25-23.
Southwestern hit a .195 clip in the first two sets while CC had a .192. The difference in those sets were the service aces and blocks. The Pirates had six aces and four total blocks while the Tigers had only two aces and no blocks before the third set.
In the third, the tide shifted as the CC defense held SWU to a -0.20 hitting percentage and the Tigers won 25-17. Dormady led the way with five kills as the offense hit a .182 clip.
The fourth set returned the momentum fully back to CC as the offense had a match-high .319 hitting percentage led by Dormady and Lipacis who combined for 11 kills. Jenks dished out 17 assists while Gannon dug out 11 balls to help force the fifth and final set.
CC was able to close out an intense fifth set despite the score being tied on seven different occasions. Dormady got four of the final five kills as she had another seven total in the set. She finished the day with a .169 hitting percentage.
Jenks was one assist shy of her career-high of 58 which she set on Oct. 1, 2022, against Schreiner. She had 57 on Friday against the Pirates.
Colorado College 3, Texas Lutheran 0
Less than a couple hours after playing a five-set thriller, the Tigers turned around and downed the Bulldogs in straight sets to advance to the SCAC Championship Final for the second year in a row.
CC avenged last year's final's loss against Texas Lutheran by hitting a combined .266 and limiting the Bulldogs to a .156 hitting clip.
Isabella Lipacis led the team with 18 kills, including six in the first set to get the Tigers rolling and nine in the third set to bring it home.
Four other players had eight kills each: Kandziora, Dormady, and freshmen
Coco Barton and
Brooke Brilliant.
The Tigers had a .302 hitting percentage in the first set that they won 25-21. Barton was all over the floor, collecting four kills but also three blocks defensively. The Portsmouth, NH native finished the game with a .421 hitting percentage, eight kills and four blocks.
Brilliant shined in the second set, which the Tigers won 25-15, with her six kills and one service ace. She finished the match with a .294 clip, eight kills and two aces.
In the third and final set, the Tigers hit their worst with a team percentage of .212 but held the Bulldogs to a .175 clip and held on to win 27-25.
Kandziora wins Elite 19 Award
Keeley Kandziora was named the recipient of the SCAC Elite 19 Award during Friday's quarterfinals.
Established prior to the 2018-19 academic year and meant to recognize the best of the best within each conference sponsored-sport as it relates to both academic and athletic achievement, the SCAC Elite 19 is awarded to the student-athlete who has completed the equivalent of at least 60 credit hours at his or her current institution and has at least a cumulative 3.25 GPA. The student-athlete must also have earned All-SCAC First or Second Team honors in his/her sport for that particular season.
