Volleyball: Selection committee dashes Tigers' postseason hopes

Unable to secure a bid with a conference championship, the volleyball team was left waiting to hear from the NCAA Championship tournament selection committee on Monday. With the bracket's release at 11 a.m., the volleyball team's lunches were spoiled as they were told to pack up their spandex and knee pads for the season."We looked at [the bracket] and every team that got in was in the Top 25 like ourselves, or had gotten votes," said junior setter Ali Smith. "We had been in that category all year and to be somewhat overlooked was just infuriating."

The No. 24 Tigers had an opportunity to improve their chances with wins against top competitors in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship, but could only come away with one victory against a lower-seeded team, Centre College.

Advancing into the semifinals the Tigers hung tough against a No. 13 Colorado College team that had already beaten them once earlier in the season. After losing the first set, the Tigers claimed the next two and needed one more set to earn a spot in the finals. But DePauw couldn't close out the match and Colorado walked away with a 3-2 victory by a score of 15-10 in the final set.

"We played well, but we were up 2-1 and I think we got either too relaxed or over thought it or something," Smith said, "Because we weren't playing to the same level that we were in the prior sets of that match."

The Tigers then fell to No. 17 Trinity (Texas) University 3-0, a team that DePauw had beaten the two previous times they had played this season, in the consolation match. No. 12 Southwestern University, winner of 31 consecutive matches, defeated Colorado in the finals by a score of 3-1.

Senior right side hitter Katey Larson said the team had a letdown against Trinity after missing a chance at the conference finals.

"I think that everybody really wanted to play Southwestern," Larson said. "Then we didn't beat Colorado and it was hard to bounce back."

The Tigers did receive a handful of individual honors at the SCAC Championship, however. Before the tournament started, Larson was named to the All-SCAC first team, while junior middle hitter Kristen Chynoweth and Smith were named to the second team. At the conclusion of the tournament, Smith was named to the all-tournament team for her effort of 127 assists in DePauw's three matches.