GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Carroll College defeated tournament host Davenport 3-1 and swept Saints Xavier 3-0 to go 2-0 Saturday and win its 11th match of the last 12 in the second and final day of the Panther Invite.
"This has been a really good tournament," head coach Moe Boyle said. "A lot of players did a lot of really good things. We turned a lot of heads and I think we have shown what we can do in a tournament atmosphere. Against some really good teams"
The Saints started the day against tournament host Davenport and turned out a 25-18, 15-25, 25-15, 25-15 win.
Emily Sullivan tallied 11 kills on 22 attacks with zero errors for a .500 hitting percentage.
Crystal Schmidt tallied 10 kills and a .474 hitting percentage to pace the Saints to a .244 percentage compared to .121 for the Panthers.
Sullivan also had a stellar four service aces to lead the Saints to eight as a team.
Jonni Dorr tallied 32 kills to pace the Carroll attack and
Rebecca Sweeney had 20 digs for the Saints.
In the second match, Carroll started the first set with nine-straight points and never looked back en route to a 25-18, 25-16, 25-9 win over Saint Xavier.
The Saints hit a stellar .395 percentage, including a 556 in the final game compared to .080 for the Cougars.
Sullivan was again dominant with a .438 percentage for eight kills.
Holly Morehouse tallied a match-high 10 kills and hit .375, Schmidt had nine kills and a .389 hitting percentage.
"Crystal had a really great weekend," Boyle said. "She hit well over .300 for the weekend and she was very good on the block for us. As a team we did a really good job closing and solidifying our blocks. Our defense fed on that and they did a really great job."
The freshman Sullivan has grown into her roll as a starter for the Saints and was, at times, dominant over the four matches this weekend.
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Emily Sullivan had a really good weekend both offensively and defensively," Boyle said. "At one point today she had three aces in a row. She is doing a lot of really good things. She doesn't play like a freshman and it has been huge for us this season.
The Saints return to Montana for a split home and away weekend beginning with a road match at Montana Western Friday before hosting the other conference unbeaten, Rocky Mountain Saturday at 2 p.m. at the PE Center.
