The OLLU Saints volleyball team won the quarterfinals against Texas Wesleyan University on the morning of Nov. 13, and lost the semifinals against the University of Texas at Brownsville later that afternoon, to end their 2009 season. The Red River Athletic Conference No. 5-ranked Saints finished their season with a record of 16-11.
During the quarterfinals, the Saints delivered a five-set loss to the Lady Rams (22-25, 19-25, 25-16, 25-23, 15-11) in the opening round of the tournament, giving them the advance to the semifinals later that day.
The first two sets did not look promising for the Saints even though they lost by a few points each, 22-25 and 19-25. The Lady Rams had 14 kills and a hitting percentage of .231 compared to 10 kills for the Saints and a hitting percentage of .125. The second set was comparable with Wesleyan's 15 kills, and .261 hitting percentage and OLLU's 15 kills and just .143 hitting percentage.
The Saints took it up a few notches in sets three and four, which saw TWU logging 7/13 kills and .036/.211 hitting percentages, while the Saints had 11/16 kills and .152/.293 hitting percentages. The Saints won 25-16 and 25-23. The final set, the tiebreaker, resulted in a .211 hitting percentage for the Saints and a .100 for the Rams. The Saints won 15-11.
Leading the Saints in kills was Liza Rodriguez with 13, while Jasmine Price had 12 and Kelsey Johnson and Melanie Valenciana had 10. Elyse Escobar finished with 25 assists, and Johnson led the team in digs with 21.
Next up for the Saints was the semifinals. The Saints played one of its best matches of the season, but it was not enough to beat the No. 1 ranked Scorpions from the University of Texas at Brownsville to advance to the Red River Athletic Conference championships. The Saints lost in three sets, 19-25, 21-25 and 20-25, and finished with a hitting percentage of .228.
Rodriguez and Price led the Saints in kills with eight each and hitting percentages of .286 and .389 respectively. Escobar finished with 23 assists, while Sarah Lindsay ended with 13 digs.
UTB finished the season ranked No. 9 in the nation with a 31-1 record after beating Wiley College in the conference championship. The Scorpions will advance to the NAIA National Women's Volleyball Championship in Sioux City, Iowa Dec. 1-5.
