Tag: volleyball

Saints volleyball impresses in sweep of Paul Quinn College

The volleyball team swept Paul Quinn College (PQC) on Saturday. The Saints improve to 5-3 overall and 2-0 in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). The Tigers fall to 0-6 and 0-2 in the RRAC.

History
The Saints were 6-0 against the Tigers prior to the matchup.

Basics
The Saints defeated the Tigers in three sets on Saturday. They won all three sets 25-19 and held PQC to under .100 hitting percentage in every frame. The first set was back and forth scoring before the Saints went on a run after a 15-15 tie. Kills by Camila Ramirez and Tijana Kruta helped OLLU seal the first set. The second set saw another tie at 11-11. The Saints prevailed late in the set with more kills from Ramirez. The Tigers didn’t make the victory easy for the Saints in the third set. OLLU led 18-14 but the Tigers tallied four straight points to even the score. Mia Francis made two huge plays to give the Saints momentum following the tie. Paul Quinn made a few attacking errors late to give the Saints the victory.

Scoring overview
Set One – OLLU 25 – PQC 19

Set Two – OLLU 25 – PQC 19

Set Three – OLLU 25 – PQC 19

Set review
In the first set, OLLU recorded 15 kills and 10 errors on 42 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .119.

The Saints had 13 kills in the second set and nine errors on 38 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .105.

In the third set, OLLU recorded 14 kills and eight errors on 34 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .176.

On the offense
Overall, the Saints had 42 kills for a hitting percentage of .132. Paul Quinn totaled 22 kills for a hitting percentage of -.010.

Dorsey led the Saints with nine kills. Shelbriana Myers and Kennadi Harris totaled a team-high eight kills each for the Tigers.

Rebekah Bustamante assisted on 38 plays for the Saints while Jayda Trinidad tallied 22 assists for Paul Quinn.

Defensive standouts
OLLU had a total of 47 digs, led by Tina Trevino with 14. Kesmyre Smalls tallied 11 digs for the Tigers.

Serving it up
Ramirez had three service aces for the Saints. Marquise Nelson had the only service ace for Paul Quinn.

What’s next
The Saints travel to battle Texas Lutheran University on Sept. 14 at 7 p.m.

OLLU volleyball concludes play in the San Antonio ShinDig Tournament

The Saints volleyball team won two out of four matches during the San Antonio ShinDig tournament. The Saints defeated Friends University (FU) and Loyola University of New Orleans (LUNO). They lost to Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) and Westcliff University (WU) to move to 3-3 overall on the season.

Full tournament details are available on the Saints Athletics website.

Volleyball wins one, drops one in weekend tournament

The Saints volleyball team downed Evangel University in a five-set thriller in the Alamo City Volleyesta held in Mabee Gymnasium on Friday night. Read more about the team’s 2022 opening season win on the Saints athletics website.

On Saturday, the Saints closed out the tournament with an intense match against Texas Wesleyan University. The Saints fell to the Rams in four sets. Read more about the match on the Saints athletics website.

Saints volleyball garners the second spot in conference preseason poll

The Saints volleyball team has been picked to finish second in the 2022 Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Volleyball Preseason Poll for the second year in a row. The Saints finished as runners-up last year in the conference tournament against conference champion Xavier University of Louisiana, picked three points ahead of the Saints for the top spot. The Gold Nuggets were picked first last year, as well.

OLLU went 20-5 overall in 2021 and suffered just one conference loss – to Xavier – 1-3 in late October. The two powerhouses met up in the championship match hosted by OLLU. The Saints lost the first set 22-25 and won the second one, 25-17. The Gold Nuggets won the third, 25-13, and the Saints tied it up for the fourth set, 25-22. Xavier prevailed to with the final set 15-4 to capture the tournament title and move on to the NAIA National Tournament. The Gold Nuggets lost their first match 0-3 to end their season with an overall 13-7 record and 10-1 in the conference.

Huston-Tillotson University placed third in the voting after a trip to the conference semis last year. The University of the Southwest, which is coming off a 7-5 conference season, finished in fourth place followed by Jarvis Christian University, Louisiana Christian University and Paul Quinn College. Texas A&M University-Texarkana, which is launching its new volleyball program this season, placed eighth, and Texas College was voted ninth.

Volleyball’s Sadie Ballesteros earns COSIDA Academic All-District honors

Sadie Ballesteros (JR/Atascosa, Texas) of the volleyball team has been named to the Academic All-District Volleyball Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The program recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.  

To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his/her current institution. Nominated athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s games at their positions. No student-athlete is eligible until he/she has completed one full calendar year at his/her current institution and has reached sophomore athletic eligibility.

Ballesteros will advance to the national ballot after receiving First Team honors. Recipients of those awards will be announced at a later date.

Ballesteros is a junior from Atascosa, Texas, and a graduate of Southwest High School. She is majoring in political science and holds a 4.00 cumulative GPA.

OLLU competes in this awards program as part of District 4, College Division, which includes schools from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Nine volleyball players earn All-Conference Team honors

The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) announced the 2021 Volleyball All-Conference Team and Players of the Year.

The Saints had a spectacular 11-1 mark in RRAC play this season. Madelynn Strzelczyk (SO/Marion, Texas) was awarded Player of the Year, Setter of the Year and earned First-Team honors. She assisted on 819 plays and averaged 10.64 assists per set.

Camila Ramirez (FR/El Paso, Texas) earned Attacker of the Year and First-Team honors. She led the Saints with 276 and 806 total attacks. Tina Trevino (FR/Laredo, Texas) took home Defender of the Year, Freshman of the Year and First-Team honors. Trevino tallied a team-leading 404 digs and averaged 4.99 per set.

Sadie Ballesteros (JR/Atascosa, Texas) was awarded First-Team recognition. Ballesteros was third on the team with 162 kills and committed only 48 errors.

Daisy Cantwell (SO/San Antonio, Texas), Cassidy Haller (SO/Cibolo, Texas) and Tijana Kruta (SR/Bar, Montenegro) were awarded Second-Team honors. Cantwell had 234 kills, Haller tallied 137 kills, and Kruta led the Saints with 39 total blocks.

Alyssa Gallardo (SR/San Antonio, Texas) was an Honorable Mention and Champions of Character. Gallardo was second on the team with 175 kills and was a consistent leader on the court. 

Megan Montalvo (SO/San Antonio, Texas) also was named to the Honorable Mention team. Montalvo played in all 23 matches and had 19 service aces.

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 continues to receive five votes in the latest NAIA Coaches Top 25 Poll

OLLU again received five votes in the fourth regular-season edition of the 2021 NAIA Women’s Volleyball Coaches Top 25 Poll that was released Oct. 13.

Since the last post was released on Sept. 29, the Saints have been undefeated. They swept Red River Athletic Conference opponent the University of the Southwest 3-0 on Oct. 2 and beat conference opponent Huston-Tillotson University 3-2 on Oct. 6. The women also swept NCAA D3 Schreiner University on Oct. 8.

After this weekend’s matches, the Saints are now 14-3 overall and 8-0 in the conference.

The team is ranked 30th in standings among all NAIA teams. Madelynn Strzelczyk is ranked 14th in the NAIA in assists with 517/10.55 apg.

The highest mark the Saints have received in the poll came in 2016 when the team received 61 votes.

Poll Methodology

  • The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and Unaffiliated Groups.
  • The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second place and so on through the list.
  • The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
  • Teams that receive only one point on the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
     
RANKLAST TIMESCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES]RECORDPOINTS
11Jamestown (N.D.) [17]21-0588
22Viterbo (Wis.) [4]25-1574
34Missouri Baptist16-2548
45Park (Mo.)17-2518
56Corban (Ore.)19-0515
63Midland (Neb.)18-3501
77Marian (Ind.)24-0487
88Bellevue (Neb.)16-3464
99Providence (Mont.)16-2436
1011Central Methodist (Mo.)19-3410
1110College of Saint Mary (Neb.)18-3400
1212Life (Ga.)21-1393
1313Eastern Oregon16-5366
1415Northwestern (Iowa)12-6345
1513Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)16-5320
1618Dordt (Iowa)12-5294
1719Montana Tech15-5256
1817Taylor (Ind.)22-4240
1922Columbia (Mo.)20-4234
2020Ottawa (Ariz.)15-2232
2116Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)16-4216
2221Indiana Wesleyan14-3196
23NRDoane (Neb.)18-5186
2424Grand View (Iowa)13-10145
2525Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)17-5140


Dropped from the Poll: Concordia (Neb.)

Receiving Votes: Bushnell (Ore.) 104, Concordia (Neb.) 80, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 52, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 33, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 27, Hastings (Neb.) 26, Dakota State (S.D.) 18, Westmont (Calif.) 13, Indiana Tech 9, Bethel (Ind.) 8, Texas Wesleyan 7, IU South Bend (Ind.) 6, Loyola (La.) 5, Ottawa (Kan.) 5, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 5, Columbia International (S.C.) 3, Campbellsville (Ky.) 3

Volleyball receives votes in latest NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll

Volleyball received five votes in the second regular-season edition of the 2021 NAIA Women’s Volleyball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. This marks the first time since 2018 the Saints have been included in the poll.

The Saints are 9-3 this season and undefeated in Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) play at 4-0. OLLU has won five of its last six matches including a sweep of Louisiana College and Texas College this past weekend. 

The team is ranked in the top 50 of the nation with 11.76 assists per set. Camila Ramirez (FR/El Paso, Texas) and Daisy Cantwell (SO/San Antonio, Texas) both have more than 100 kills. Tina Trevino (FR/Laredo, Texas) leads the squad with 204 digs and sophomore Madalyn Gonzalez (SO/San Antonio, Texas) has a team-high 21 blocks. Four different Saints have earned conference player of the week awards.

The highest mark the Saints have received in the poll came in 2016 when the team received 61 votes.

Poll Methodology

  • The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and Unaffiliated Groups.
  • The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second place and so on through the list.
  • The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
  • Teams that receive only one point on the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
RANKLAST TIMESCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES]RECORDPOINTS
12Jamestown (N.D.)16-0588
23Viterbo (Wis.)20-1572
31Midland (Neb.)16-2540
44Missouri Baptist13-2538
56Park (Mo.)12-2517
67Corban (Ore.)15-0502
78Marian (Ind.)18-0478
811Bellevue (Neb.)11-2441
910Providence (Mont.)14-2440
1017College of Saint Mary (Neb.)16-2430
1112Central Methodist (Mo.)15-2387
1218Life (Ga.)18-1372
1314Eastern Oregon13-4360
13NRDakota Wesleyan (S.D.)15-1360
159Northwestern (Iowa)10-5313
1613Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)12-3294
17NRTaylor (Ind.)19-2278
185Dordt (Iowa)10-4274
1915Montana Tech12-4233
2020Ottawa (Ariz.)12-1227
2116Indiana Wesleyan10-3220
2220Columbia (Mo.)16-4206
2319Concordia (Neb.)9-6183
2424Grand View (Iowa)8-9133
25NREmbry-Riddle (Ariz.)13-5116

Dropped from the poll: Oklahoma City, Bethel (Ind.), Westmont (Calif.)

Receiving Votes: Madonna (Mich.) 81, Bushnell (Ore.) 74, Doane (Neb.) 73, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 48, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 43, Westmont (Calif.) 37, Saint Mary (Kan.) 27, Bethel (Ind.) 19, SAGU (Texas) 16, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 8, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 5, IU South Bend (Ind.) 4, Oklahoma City 3

Haller and Strzelczyk earn volleyball conference awards

Cassidy Haller earned recognition as the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Volleyball Attacker of the Week for Sept. 20-26. Madelynn Strzelczyk added her fourth RRAC Setter of the Week award for the same dates. This is the fifth set of weekly awards for the 2021 RRAC volleyball season.

Haller averaged 3.2 kills per set in a 2-1 week for the Saints. The sophomore right side from Cibolo, Texas, hit 13 kills in a 3-0 win over Louisiana College, and she added 10 in a 3-1 loss to Trinity University. Haller posted a .464 hitting percentage and added nine digs. OLLU moved to 4-0 in conference play and 9-3 on the season. 

Strzelczyk delivered big for the Saints again with 9.8 assists per set in two of OLLU’s matches. The sophomore setter from Marion, Texas, compiled 69 assists, including 44 in the losing effort against Trinity. Strzelczyk is ranked 16th nationally with 10.3 assists per set.