Volleyball concluded its regular season against the Colorado College Tigers. After a competitive five-set match, the Celts fell 3-2.
Both teams went point for point early in set one, as a 4-4 tie would be when the tides turned. St. Thomas went on a quick 5-1 run to force Colorado College to play from behind. It was this lead that the Tigers could not come back from as they spent the rest of the set chasing the Celts. St. Thomas eventually won 25-20, as Alyssa Ajlouny got the kill. In set two, it was all in the Celts' favor as they had the lead from the first serve. Three service aces and three service errors from Colorado would give the Celts six points as they also tacked on 10 kills for a dominant set two and win 25-12. In set three, Colorado College responded and came behind from a two-point deficit majority of the set to take a lead as large as nine, 20-11. St. Thomas tried to claw their way back into the game with a 6-2 run, but it would not be enough as the Tigers won 25-20. In set four, Colorado College took a 6-2 lead, yet St. Thomas answered methodically throughout the set and eventually got to a 13-13 tie. At that point, the Celts and the tigers traded points, to the point where the score was tied 23-23. However, in two back-and-forth rallies, the Tigers ultimately came out on top 25-23.
To open up the deciding set, the Celts took a 3-1 lead and put the Tigers in a hole. Yet Colorado College would tie the game at 4-4, but a timely service ace from Paige Havel gave the Celts the one-point advantage. With the game on the line, both times tried to go point for point with the score always being within two. Late in the set, the Tigers pulled away and ended up winning the match 3-2.
Offensively Trinity Atkins had 15 kills to go along with a .297 hitting percentage. Emerson Sykes notched 29 assists and Audrey Cataline tagged five service aces. Defensively, Kara Spice had 20 digs and Paige Havel had five blocks.
With this match, volleyball finishes their SCAC regular season 7-9. Seven wins are their highest since joining the league in 2019. Up next, Volleyball travels to Colorado to face the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament! The tournament will take place November 4-6, and all information can be found on the tournament website!
