Dallas, Tx. - The SBU women's volleyball team concluded their season opening tournament Saturday afternoon going 1-1 on the day. The Bearcats started the day falling to MSU Moorhead 1-3, then ended the day defeating East Central University in sweeping fashion 3-0. 
 
Game 1: SBU falls to MSU Moorhead 1-3 (21-25, 25-16, 20-25, 17-25)
The first set was controlled by the Dragons holding the lead nearly all the way through the game. Southwest Baptist tamed the fire in set two with a dominating nine point win, but weren't able to contain it for the final two sets. Freshman Gabriela Dupree continued to have a remarkable start to her collegiate career with 18 kills in the game, the most by a freshman Bearcat in over five years. She added in one ace, one solo block, for 20.5 points in the game. Senior Katie Pogue added in a double-double with 24 assists and 14 digs. 
 
Game 2: SBU defeats East Central 3-0 (25-22, 28-26, 25-18)
SBU ended the trip on a high note completing their second sweep of the weekend over the East Central Tigers. The first two sets of the game were tight matches with the Bearcats only picking up three point and two point set wins, but the final one was a dominant win 25-18. For the third time this weekend, Dupree led the team in kills with 15 to go along with her .333 hitting percentage. She also had a double-double with 10 digs to go along with her three aces. Bearcat junior Rory Stanley had an exceptional game herself with 10.5 points off of six kills, two aces, and three assisted blocks. Freshman Julia Marinesi tagged long nine kills with a .300 hitting percentage. 
 
Women's volleyball will now get a few days off before competing at home for their first time this season in the Bearcat Invite. Their first game will take place on Friday, September 12th at 2:00pm against Harding University. They'll compete again later that day against Union University.