KERRVILLE, TX: The Schreiner University Volleyball team opened the 2023 SCAC Volleyball Championship with a 3-2 win over the University of St. Thomas in the SCAC Quarterfinals.
The Mountaineers traveled to Georgetown, Texas, to open the 2023 SCAC Volleyball Championship with a Quarterfinals matchup against #4 University of St. Thomas.
Schreiner entered the tournament as the #5-seed after putting together 19 wins in the regular season, including 8 regular season SCAC wins (their highest win total since the 2001-2002 season).
Their post-season berth would also mark the first time Schreiner would be represented in the SCAC Volleyball Championship since 2020-2021 when all member institutions received invitations due to the shortened season.
Recap
The #4 vs #5 quarterfinals matchup would prove to be a thriller as it took all five sets to finally declare a winner. Fortunately, in the end it would be the Mountaineers who would come out on top as they won the fifth set 16-14 in dramatic fashion and the match 3-2.
From SCAC Article
"Behind a match-high 21 kills from SCAC Freshman of the Year, Giana Hilliard, fifth-seeded Schreiner University picked up its first conference tournament win in 10 years, defeating fourth-seeded University of St. Thomas, 3-2, and advancing to the 2023 SCAC Volleyball Championship semifinals Friday morning at the Corbin J. Robertson Center on the campus of Southwestern University."
Schreiner's victory as the fifth-seed marked the first #5 over #4 quarterfinal victory since fifth-seeded Austin College defeated fourth-seeded Dallas at the 2019 tournament.
Giana Hilliard's 21 kills tied her for 10th most in a single SCAC tournament match in conference history and Schreiner's 69 kills are tied for the third-most by a team in a single SCAC tournament match. Their 67 assists are tied for the second-most.
The win by Schreiner moved their overall record to 20-12 which officially ties their program win record (NCAA era) previously set in 2001-2002.
Up next, the Mountaineers will advance to the SCAC Semifinals where they are set to meet the top seeded Trinity University Tigers.