LEAVENWORTH, Kan. – The Southwestern College volleyball team returned to the hardwood for their last Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) regular-season matchup of the 2022 campaign on Saturday evening. The team drove up north to battle the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kan. Unfortunately, after a strong effort in the opening set, the Builders were unable to match that level of play in the remaining two sets, dropping the bout in three sets to the University of Saint Mary.

The Moundbuilders' opening set was their most productive, as they put away 8 kills in the frame on 41 tries. Their .171 attacking clip was their top performance in single set in the battle, as they committed only one error to go along with their eight putaways. Meanwhile, SMU had 10 errors on 50 attempts, having spiked down 19 of those 50 tries. The first set was a tight battle, but the Spires pulled away at the end of the set for a 25-23 triumph.

The second set showed how strong Saint Mary can be. The Builders were able to keep up and stayed with the Spires for the first eight points of the frame. It was a 4-4 score at that point, before a 5-0 run quickly put the Spires up 9-4. From then on, it was all Spires, as the Builders could not keep up with the USM attack. The set ended in a 25-15 score for the Spires. Saint Mary had 14 kills on 41 total attempts, whereas the Builders earned 9 kills on 43 total attempts.

In the third and final set of the game, things did not change much for SC. Even though they ended with a positive attacking percentage in the final stanza, it was only seven kills and six errors that they racked up on 38 swings. The Spires were able to use 14 kills on 37 attempts to earn a 25-15 win in the final set.

The Builder offense relied heavily upon five attackers, as there were just five Moundbuilders with more than one kill in the bout. Brianna Ede paced the squad with seven putaways, as she also led the team with her .250 attacking clip, albeit on just 20 swings. She was followed by Jayda Brittenum and Daci Stover who spiked down four and five attempts, respectively. Hannah Weber and Anna Bradley were able to earn three kills apiece. KaSandra Lyons rounded things out with two kills.

Sierra Norlin and Maela Stevens were both able to contribute to the team by tallying 10 and seven assists. Sophia Wicker came in third in assists with four, while Avery Riedel and Hannah Weber were both able to contribute one assist to the team's effort.

Sophia Wicker was able to pick up 10 digs in the tilt. She was aided by nine pickups from Hannah Weber, as well as eight from Norlin, six from Stevens, five from Riedel, four from Lyons, three by Bradley and one by Stover and Brittenum. Those seven defenders accounted for 37 of the squad's 47 digs.

After a tough loss on the road, the Moundbuilders (10-14, 5-7 KCAC) have earned the No. 8 seed, and will return to Stewart Field House to host a KCAC Tournament First Round match against the No. 9-seeded Avila University Eagles on Tuesday, November 8 at 7 p.m. It will be a rematch of the last home match that the Builder squad enjoyed, in which they prevailed with a 3-0 sweep of the visiting Eagles. Southwestern will be hoping for similar fortunes this time around, as they would move on to the KCAC Tournament Quarterfinal in Hutchinson, Kan. with a triumph.

--buildersports.com--