SWOSU Athletics
Doug Self, Sports Information Director
DENTON, Texas – The SWOSU Volleyball team opened the regular season on Friday by splitting a pair of matches at the Pioneer Classic. The Bulldogs claimed a dramatic comeback victory over tournament host Texas Woman’s in the first match of the season before dropping a straight-set decision to Florida Tech in the night cap.
SWOSU (1-1) returns to the court at Kitty Magee Arena on Saturday morning at 9:00 am to face St. Edward’s before concluding the tournament against Northwood at 4:00 pm.
SWOSU 3, Texas Woman’s 2
Danusia Sipa Borgeaud led the Bulldogs with 20 kills and 18 digs, helping her squad overcome a 2-1 deficit to win the final two sets and down the Pioneers in the first match of 2018. SWOSU won the first set 25-21 and had a set point in the second before TWU rallied and tied the match with a 27-25 set win.
TWU maintained their momentum through the third set, which they won by a count of 25-19 to force the Bulldogs to play with their backs against the wall. SWOSU responded to the challenge, following the lead of Borgeaud to hit .390 in the fourth set with 20 kills as they evened the match at 2-2 and forced the deciding fifth set.
The Bulldogs controlled the fifth set from the outset, building a 5-1 lead after Kodee Avery notched a service ace and forced TWU to call their first timeout. The Pioneers got back within one before Alexis Kingston and Borgeaud put away kills, which coupled with an attack error by TWU to give SWOSU an 8-4 lead at the turn. Two more kills from Borgeaud made it 10-5, which was when Texas Woman’s called their final timeout and rallied off four straight points to cut the lead to one at 10-9. A service error and three hitting errors by TWU, combined with a kill from Sofia Gruden allowed the Bulldogs to put the set away at 15-10 and the match at 3-2.
Borgeaud led the way with 20 kills, while Elizabeth McVicker chipped in 14 kills and hit .257 for the match. SWOSU also got eight kills apiece from Kingston and Gruden, while Avery directed the squad with 47 assists. Kaitlyn Dillon led the Bulldogs with 23 digs and Gruden had a team-best six blocks, with one solo and five assists.
Florida Tech 3, SWOSU 0
SWOSU struggled wire-to-wire in the night cap, hitting just .051 for the match with 24 kills against 18 hitting errors as Florida Tech claimed the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The Panthers won the match by scores of 25-22, 25-18, 25-20 as both teams finished the first day of the tournament 1-1.
The Bulldogs got five kills apiece from McVicker and Borgeaud and four from Kingston, while five other players combined for the other 10 kills recorded by the team. Avery led the Dawgs with a double-double of 20 assists and 12 digs, while Dillon paced the squad with 15 digs.