Sunday, 21 September, 2008

The PCC Volleyball Team finished with three straignt wins at the University of Arkansas--Fort Smith tournament this weekend. After dropping matches to #4 Frank Phillips and #14 Missouri--West Plains, the Beavers went on to sweep West Texas College and North Central Texas, and finished the tournament with a five game win over previously ranked New Mexico Military.

"We were looking forward to this tournament," said Head Coach Patrick Hall, "as we wanted another chance to test ourselves against ranked teams. It was very competitive, and our team came away confident that they can compete with anyone."

And they certainly did. While Pratt opened the tournament losing three straight to both West Plains and Frank Phillips, all six games were tied at either 19 or 20 points apiece. Pratt simply couldn't close out any of those sets. The Beavers lost to West Plains 25-21, 25-21, 25-20, and to Frank Phillips 25-22, 25-21, 25-20. Pratt finished Friday's matches by sweeping West Texas 25-15, 25-15, 25-15.

The Beavers kept rolling on Saturday morning, sweeping North Central Texas 25-15, 25-18, 25-12. Pratt then had to face New Mexico MIlitary Institute for fifth place. NMMI had beaten #5 UA-Fort Smith on Friday, but Pratt was looking for a chance to avenge an early season loss to NMMI.

PCC's offense was on fire in game one, registering a one game season high of nineteen kills. Kate Trejos had 12 of those. And Pratt needed all of them for the 26-24 win. In game two, PCC collected 14 more kills, 9 from Trejos, on the way to a 25-16 win. NMMI put their military training to good use in game three by attacking from a strong defense. That game was a one point contest until the 28-26 final score. Game four was tied at 22-22 before NMMI scored three straight for the 25-22 win.

In game five, Pratt earned the switch at 8-3, then held a 14-11. New Mexico made it close with a kill and a Pratt error, but Trejos hit a deep corner shot for the win.

"We finally put together a weekend where we competed well in every match," said Hall. "We are gradually getting healthy, and we think we've found a lineup that can capitalize on some individual strengths. Moving Kalie back to the middle helps us a lot, and Melissa is much more comfortable on the right side."

Kate Trejos was again selected to the All-Tournament Team. Trejos had 35 kills in the NMMI match, for a 7 kills/game average. She finished the tournament with 94 kills in 17 games for a 5.5 kills/game average.

Tatiana Gonzalez also had an excellent offensive weekend with 55 kills, and again led the team on defense with 49 digs.

Ashley Simons added 38 kills and hit a phenomenal .690 against Frank Phillips. She led the team in hitting percentage for the weekend, with a .468.

Heather Williams and Juliana Gonzalez ran the offense, sharing setting duties. Both finished with over 80 assists for the tournament.