To kick off the SCAC Tournament, the St. Thomas Celts faced off with the Schreiner Mountaineers. After five hard fought sets, the Celts ultimately fell 3-2, thus ending their season at the SCAC Championships. 

HOW IT HAPPENEND

• In a back-and-forth match, that featured 27 ties and 13 lead changes across five sets, Schreiner fought back from down 2-1 to win the fourth set, 25-17, and the decisive fifth set, 16-14. 
• St. Thomas led the fifth set 12-9 but after a Schreiner timeout, the Mountaineers rallied to take the next four points and a 13-12 lead. St. Thomas responded with two consecutive points and served for the match at 14-13. Schreiner responded with three straight points, including the 21st kill of the match by Giana Hilliard on match point, to earn the victory.
• Schreiner ended the match hitting .236 while St. Thomas finished at .184. 

UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS STATISTICAL STANDOUTS

• Audrey Cataline: 15 kills, 17 digs, 4 service aces
• Trinity Atkins: 14 kills, 5 digs, 3 block assists
• Karrington Kays: 9 kills, 1 block solo, 3 block assists
• Brenna Groenemann: 8 kills, 1 service ace, 3 digs, 1 block solo, 1 block assist
• Kendall Howard: 24 assists, 13 digs
• Mia Medina: 26 assists, 9 digs

NOTABLES

• This was the first meeting between the two schools in SCAC tournament play.
• Schreiner's victory as the fifth-seed marked the first #5 over #4 quarterfinal victory since fifth-seeded Austin College defeated fourth-seeded Dallas at the 2019 tournament.
• The 21 kills from Hilliard ties for the 10th most in a single SCAC tournament match in conference history.
• Schreiner's 69 kills are tied for the third-most by a team in a single SCAC tournament match. Their 67 assists are tied for the second-most.
• Schreiner's victory was only its second-ever in SCAC tournament play and its first since a 3-1 victory over Dallas at the 2013 championships.
• St. Thomas falls to 0-4 all-time in SCAC volleyball tournament action.

UP NEXT

Schreiner (20-12) advances to take on top seed, AVCA 13th-ranked, Trinity University (26-4), later this afternoon at 3:30 pm MT in the semifinals. Meanwhile, St. Thomas ends its season with a 17-12 overall mark.