Scorpions Repeat as Trinity Tournament Champions

Posted October 27, 2007
SAN ANTONIO -- The UTB/TSC women's volleyball team took two more victories to repeat as champions of the Trinity University National Invitational Tournament Saturday, October 27.

The Scorpions downed Rockford College (Ill., 3-0, and Wartburg College (Iowa), 3-1, to finish 4-0 in two days and win the tournament for the second straight year.

UTB/TSC, the 20th-ranked NAIA team, improved to 27-6 for the season, and was the only non-NCAA Division III school at the tournament.

On Friday, the Scorpions defeated Chapman University (Calif.) and host Trinity, the third-ranked NCAA Division III team in the country. Trinity was 29-1 with 26 straight wins before its match with the Scorpions.

In the Trinity match, Talita Milasauskas and Daianarah Bracero broke UTB/TSC school records. Milasauskas had 31 kills, breaking the old school record of 27 held by Ana Mercado against Hill College in 2004. Bracero had 67 assists, breaking the old record of 64 held by Cathryn Hayslip in 2002.

The Scorpions have one match remaining on the regular season, at NCAA Division I member The University of Texas-Pan American at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 1, in Edinburg.

UTB/TSC has already wrapped up the Red River Athletic Conference South Zone championship. The Scorpions will be the top seed when they enter the RRAC Tournament in Fort Worth November 9-10.

"We used this tournament as a tune-up for postseason play," Scorpion head coach Marcus Young said. "Trinity and Wartburg were good teams, and we played well in beating them. We're focused on the postseason, we want to go as far as we can."

After starting the season with a 5-3 record, the Scorpions have gone 22-3, losing only twice to NCAA Division I member Houston Baptist University and to Northwestern College (Iowa), ranked No. 17 in the lastest NAIA poll.

UTB/TSC 3, Rockford College (Ill.) 0 (30-15, 30-24, 30-22)

After a tough match against Trinity Friday night, the Scorpions took care of business in three games over Rockford, now 12-15.

For the second straight match, Milasauskas had a six-kill average per game, collecting 18 with seven digs and one block. She had 31 kills against Trinity Friday night, breaking the school record for kills in a game.

Daianarah Bracero, who broke the school record for assists in one match Friday with 67, had 40 against Rockford, and had seven digs as well.

Claudia Alarcon had eight kills and 10 digs, Jenny AShley had eight kills, and Katie Japp had seven kills and seven digs.

The hitting percentages were impressive, with Japp leading the way at .538, Milasauskas at .469, Alarcon at .333, and Ashley at .313. The team hitting percentage was .396, the third-highest for the season.

UTB/TSC 3, Wartburg College (Iowa) 1 (22-30, 30-22, 30-28, 30-27)

The Scorpions wrapped the tournament by coming from behind to defeat Wartburg College in four games. Wartburg dropped to 14-17.

Milasauskas had another good outing with 22 kills, 19 digs, and four blocks. She finished the tournament with 81 kills in four matches.

Bracero had another impressive outing with 49 assists and 14 digs. She finished the tournament with 191 assists in four matches.

Alarcon had 17 kills and 16 digs, Japp added nine kills and 20 digs, while Ashley had six kills and 10 digs.