SAN ANTONIO â€" The Texas Lutheran volleyball team won two more matches on Saturday to conclude the Trinity Fall Classic, sweeping George Fox before ending the tournament with a five-set win over Puget Sound.
 
The pair of wins continues the Bulldogs' strong start to the 2014 campaign, as they improve to 10-2 with the two wins. TLU finished 3-1 over the weekend.
 
The Bulldogs notched their eighth sweep of the season with a 25-22, 25-7, 25-21 win over George Fox. It was about as convincing a win as can be had with the Bulldogs never trailing the Bruins at any point in the match.
 
It was the Bulldogs' offense that was the story against the Bruins, as TLU finished with .299 hitting.
 
Leading the offensive barrage was sophomore Kristin Fording. The San Antonio native came up with a career-high 19 kills. To record that many kills in a three-set match, you need to be efficient with your attempts, and that's exactly how Fording's day went as she finished with .467 hitting.
 
Brette Threadgill (Sinton, Texas) also tallied double-digit kills against the Bruins. The sophomore finished with 11 kills on .208 hitting.
 
Katie Darst (Euless, Texas) and Kelcie Ingram (Cibolo, Texas) combined to form an effective setter duo. Darst finished with 27 assists, while Ingram chipped in with 12.
 
The Bulldogs scored the first four points in the opening set and didn't look back from there, as they eventually stretched the lead to as large as 22-15. The Bruins battled back in the first set, rattling off five straight points to cut the TLU advantage to 22-20, but the Bulldogs would never let the Bruins closer than that the rest of the way.
 
The second set was a blowout for the Bulldogs. The key was a 14-0 run that put TLU up 21-3.
 
Again the Bulldogs got out to a quick start in the third set, scoring the first three points of the frame. The Bruins tied things at 4-4, but TLU used a 6-1 run to take control.
 
Texas Lutheran wrapped up the day with its third five-set battle of the tournament. The Bulldogs won this one, giving them two five-set wins on the weekend, defeating Puget Sound 17-25, 25-21, 25-16, 19-25, 15-11.
 
Momentum seemed to be on the side of Puget Sound after the Loggers won the fourth set and took a 9-6 lead in the fifth. The Bulldogs quickly flipped the script though, running off a 9-2 run to end the game. The match was capped off by a kill from Fording.
 
Darst was fantastic from her setter position, tallying a season-high 38 assists. For the second time over the weekend, she came up just one dig shy of a double-double.
 
Fording was the offensive leader again for TLU, finishing with 16 more kills on .279 hitting. She finished with 61 kills for the weekend and .255 hitting.
 
Mackenzie Benson (Cibolo, Texas) enjoyed a big day against the Loggers, finishing with a season-high 11 kills (.273 hitting) to go along with four blocks.
 
The Bulldogs will be looking to carry the momentum from their strong start into next week when they open up SCAC play in Georgetown, Texas. They will participate in a SCAC pod, taking on Schreiner on Friday, Sept. 19 and Trinity and Southwestern on Saturday, Sept. 20.