RRAC Volleyball – Lake Weekly

Volleyball defeats Southwest for RRAC Regular Season Co-Champion title

The volleyball team beat the University of the Southwest (USW) 3-1 on Saturday. OLLU finishes the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) regular season with an 18-5 overall record and 11-1 conference mark.

The Saints were crowned RRAC Regular Season Co-Champions with Xavier University of Louisiana. OLLU enters the RRAC Tournament as the second seed out of six teams.

Head Coach Scott Mattera said, “One of the marks of a champion is being able to win when you don’t have your best game. It was a long road trip and the University of the Southwest is scrappy on defense and smart with their shots. They earned their breaks in game two and taught us a valuable lesson! We responded well and put it together in the third and fourth set to wrap up a regular-season co-championship!”

History

The Saints were 21-4 in the series record against USW prior to the match.

Scoring overview against USW

Set One – OLLU 25 – USW 20
Set Two – USW 25 – OLLU 18
Set Three – OLLU 25 – USW 12
Set Four – OLLU 25 – USW 16

On the offense

Overall, the Saints had 34 kills for a hitting percentage of .165. Southwest totaled 40 kills for a hitting percentage of .122.

Camila Ramirez (FR/El Paso, Texas) led the Saints with 12 kills. Valeria Trevino totaled a team-high 11 kills for the Mustangs.

Madelynn Strzelczyk (SO/Marion, Texas) assisted on 33 plays for the Saints while Alissa Mancera tallied 18 assists for USW.

Defensive standouts

OLLU had a total of 42 digs, led by Tina Trevino (FR/Laredo, Texas) with 18. Alexia Esparza tallied 28 digs for the Mustangs.

Serving it up

Three different Saints players tallied one service ace each. Autumn Lopez had two service aces for USW.

What’s next

The Saints await the winner of No. 3-seeded Huston-Tillotson University and No. 6-seeded Jarvis Christian College for a semifinal showdown. The Saints will host the RRAC Tournament starting on Nov. 12.

Volleyball records two conference sweeps over the weekend

The volleyball team took down Paul Quinn College and Wiley College to open Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) play. The Saints swept the Tigers 25-16, 25-7, and 25-14 and defeated the Wildcats 26-24, 25-21 and 25-12. OLLU jumps to 7-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

History

The Saints have never lost to Paul Quinn, and they hold the slight edge in the all-time series against Wiley at 12-11.

Paul Quinn basics

OLLU started slowly as Paul Quinn jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first set. Despite a few service errors, OLLU rallied back to eventually tie the set at 12-12. Following the tie, Sadie Ballesteros (JR/Atascosa, Texas) and Camila Ramirez (FR/El Paso, Texas) recorded kills during a five-point streak for the Saints. OLLU took the first set 25-16 behind 13 kills and 32 total attacks.

The Saints hit their stride in the second set and held the Tigers to only seven points. They won eight straight points to close the set with kills from Ramirez and Tijana Kruta (SR/Bar, Montenegro) and multiple errors from Paul Quinn. The Saints dominated the frame with a .480 hitting percentage and only one error.

The third set was controlled by the Saints to methodically close the match. Megan Montalvo (SO/San Antonio, Texas) tallied three consecutive aces in the middle of the set. Paul Quinn struggled with a .000 total hitting percentage compared to the Saints .258. OLLU totaled a season-high 12 service aces, and nine players recorded at least one kill.

Scoring overview against PQC

Set One – OLLU 25 – PQC 16
Set Two – OLLU 25 – PQC 7
Set Three – OLLU 25 – PQC 14

Set review

In the first set, OLLU recorded 13 kills and six errors on 32 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .219.

The Saints had 13 kills in the second set and one error on 25 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .480.

In the third set, OLLU recorded 11 kills and three errors on 31 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .258.

On the offense

Overall, the Saints had 37 kills for a hitting percentage of .307. Paul Quinn totaled 16 kills for a hitting percentage of -.060.

Ramirez led the Saints with 11 kills. Kaliyah Duty totaled a team-high seven kills for the Tigers.

Madelynn Strzelczyk (SO/Marion, Texas)tallied 20 assists, and the Saints had 32 total. The Tigers had 14 assists, with Ariel DeVault leading the way with eight.

Defensive standouts

OLLU had a total of 41 digs, led by Tina Trevino with 12. Kesmyre Smalls tallied 10 digs for Paul Quinn.

Serving it up

Montalvo and Strzelczyk had three service aces each for the Saints. Kaliyah Duty recorded the only service ace for the Tigers.

Wiley basics

The first set included multiple ties and momentum changes. Both teams struggled with service errors, but the Saints were able to right the ship later in the set. The programs traded points from 20-20 to 24-24. Sadie Ballesteros (JR/Atascosa, Texas) put the Saints up by one, and Camila Ramirez (FR/El Paso, Texas) closed the first set in the next point. Madelynn Strzelczyk (SO/Marion, Texas) assisted on both kills.

The Saints had to battle for a second set victory. Early in the frame, the Saints won a long rally that ended with a kill from Ballesteros, and the adrenaline seemed to light a fire under the players. The teams continued to swap points late in the set, and the Saints called a timeout after the Wildcats took a 20-18 lead. Following the timeout, OLLU won six of the next seven points and took a 2-0 lead with a 25-21 second set win. Daisy Cantwell (SO/San Antonio, Texas) tallied two strong kills toward the end of the set, and Strzelczyk assisted on four of the last five plays.

OLLU cruised to a third set win to complete the sweep. They only recorded four errors compared to eight and seven in the first two sets. Ramirez and Jaalin Rosser (SO/Universal City, Texas) were responsible for multiple kills, and the Saints forced the Wildcats into numerous ball-handling errors. The Saints finish the weekend with a sweep in both conference matches after defeating Paul Quinn College yesterday.

Scoring overview against WC

Set One – OLLU 26 – WC 24
Set Two – OLLU 25 – WC 21
Set Three – OLLU 25 – WC 12

Set review

In the first set, OLLU recorded 16 kills and six errors on 29 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .345.

The Saints had 16 kills in the second set and seven errors on 37 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .243.

In the third set, OLLU recorded eight kills and four errors on 28 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .143.

On the offense

Overall, the Saints had 40 kills for a hitting percentage of .245. Wiley totaled 21 kills for a hitting percentage of .081.

Ramirez led the Saints with 15 kills. Ballesteros followed with nine. Marissa Neal totaled a team-high eight kills for the Wildcats.

Strzelczyk recorded 34 assists for the Saints. Olivia Phillip led Wiley with 11 assists.

Defensive standouts

OLLU had a total of 36 digs, led by Tina Trevino (FR/Laredo, Texas) with 14. Merritt Elder tallied 12 digs for Wiley.

Serving it up

The Saints had two service aces. Wiley totaled five service aces with two from Kya Gray.

What’s next

The Saints take a short trip to face local NCAA D3 Trinity University on Tuesday, Sept. 21, at 6 p.m.

Volleyball voted second among nine programs in RRAC Preseason Poll

The 2021 Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Volleyball Preseason Poll has been released, and the OLLU volleyball team is ranked second, while new RRAC member Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) has been picked first.

This ranking comes after the Saints won both the conference regular-season and tournament and made their fourth trip to nationals in the 2020 abbreviated season. The team has won five regular-season titles plus four tournament titles. The women had an undefeated conference season last year.

XULA, which edged out the Saints for the top ranking by one point, has won the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships in the past 10 years.

In the three previous matchups between OLLU and Xavier, the Saints have won 3-1 in 2016 and 3-2 and 3-0 in 2020.

The Saints will begin RRAC competition against Paul Quinn College (PQC) at home on Sept. 17 after they kick off the season with seven non-conference matches, including the OLLU ShinDig Tournament on Aug. 27-28.

OLLU will compete from the West Division with Huston-Tillotson University (HTU), PQC, the University of the Southwest (USW) and Wiley College (WC). The East Division is comprised of Jarvis Christian College (JCC), Louisiana College (LC), Texas College (TXC) and Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA).

The field for this season grew from three teams in 2020 to nine. Four schools that opted out last year (HTU, WC, TXC and PQC) are returning to play this fall, and the RRAC picked up Xavier and Louisiana College as new members. The RRAC returns to its normal fall schedule after playing in the spring and completing the conference’s championship tournament in March of this year.

Head Coach Scott Mattera commented, “Preseason rankings are always an inexact science and this year more so than ever because so few teams played last year. We are excited to have the new additions to the conference and look forward to great new friendly rivalries. Xavier especially is exciting because they are coming off a conference championship as well and New Orleans is always a fun city to visit.”

Mattera addressed the 2021 squad saying, “I’m honestly not sure where to rank us in the preseason seeing as we lost a lot of firepower from last year. I do know that I like what we have returning and our new additions. The energy in our gym and the ‘buy-in’ to our philosophies are fantastic. The big question is how soon will that translate into on-court performance? Returning Sadie Ballesteros (JR/Atascosa, Texas) and Tijana Kruta (SR/Bar, Montenegro) in the middle is a big deal and while our back row graduated two starters, we have a lot of players with significant experience to hold it down back there. Cassidy Haller (SO/Cibolo, Texas) was named RRAC Freshman of the Year last season, and she coming back after her health issues could be huge for us. Breaking in a new setter is always something you worry about, but Madelynn Strzelczyk (SO/Marion, Texas) did a great job last year in a backup role, and she’s ready to take the reins. If we can get solid production from our outsides and stay healthy, we should be a fun team to watch!”

XULA, which joined the RRAC from the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) this year, earned four first-place votes to OLLU’s two. HTU picked up two first-place votes as well and is ranked third. WC took fourth and USW, which is picked to finish fifth, earned one top selection. JCC placed sixth in the poll, followed by LC, TXC and PQC.

Voting was conducted by head coaches at the conference. Results of the poll are shown below with points calculated through a 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 format.

First-place votes are shown in parentheses.

1.	Xavier University of Louisiana (4)	70
2.	Our Lady of the Lake University (2)	69
3.	Huston-Tillotson University (2)	61
4.	Wiley College	59
5.	University of the Southwest (1)	45
6.	Jarvis Christian College	34
7.	Louisiana College	32
8.	Texas College	19
9.	Paul Quinn College	16

Volleyball and soccer release 2017 schedules

The volleyball, women’s soccer and men’s soccer teams have released their 2017 schedules. The volleyball team, which is looking to build upon back-to-back NAIA Championship Tournament appearances, is set to have 33 matches this season, including 14 Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) contests and 19 nonconference matches. The Saints begin their 11th season Aug. 25-26 by hosting the Second Annual Hotel Indigo at the Alamo Saints Classic.

The women’s soccer team, which closed out its 2016 season ranked No. 25 in the NAIA Women’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, has 19 games on the calendar, including two scrimmages, seven nonconference games and 10 Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) competitions. The Saints will begin their season with the annual Soccer Alumni Weekend Aug. 19-20. They’ll welcome alumni who have played on Saints’ teams between their inaugural 2008 season through last year.

The men’s soccer team has 20 games on the calendar, including three scrimmages, seven nonconference games and 10 Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) competitions. The Saints begin their season on Aug. 16 with a scrimmage against Laredo Community College in Laredo, Texas.

Volleyball loses to Concordia 3-2

The volleyball team opened its season today with a loss to Concordia University – Texas. The Saints overpowered the Tornadoes in the first two sets, winning 25-16 and 25-21, but lost the next two 22-25 and 15-25. The Tornadoes won the tiebreaker 15-13 to win the match 3-2. Concordia, a member of the NCAA Division III American Southwest Conference, improved to 3-3. The Saints will play their next match on Sept. 10 when they take on NCAA DII St. Mary’s University at 6 p.m. The match will take place at the St. Mary’s Greehey Arena. Read full article online.

Five OLLU athletes named 2013 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced the men’s soccer, women’s soccer and volleyball student-athletes that have been named 2013 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes. OLLU student-athletes Martin Hansson, Emily Backus, Alyssa Mora, Victoria Vazquez and Bryttany Willoughby are among the honorees.

Hansson, a senior on the men’s soccer team is receiving this award for the first time. Last year, he received the Champions of Character award, as well as conference scholar athlete honors. Read more online.

OLLU women’s soccer seniors Backus, Mora and Vazquez all three received the award last year. In addition, Backus has received the CoSIDA-Captial One Academic All-District Award, and all have been named conference scholar athletes in each of their years at OLLU. Read more online.

Willoughby, a junior on the volleyball team, is also receiving this award for the first time. In her previous two years at OLLU, she has received conference scholar athlete honors, as well as the CoSIDA-Capital One Academic All- District Award. Read more online.

In order to be nominated as a Scholar Athlete by an institution’s head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved a junior academic status.