Box Score
AUSTIN, Texas – The St. Edward's volleyball team won its third-straight Heartland Conference match as they downed Texas A&M-International, 3-0 Saturday afternoon at the Recreation and Convocation Center. The Hilltoppers swept the Dustdevils, 25-16, 25-18, 25-17. With the victory, the Hilltoppers maintained their third-place standing in the Heartland Conference.
In the first set, St. Edward's (9-13, 7-5 HC) and Texas A&M-International (2-19, 1-11 HC) each held close, with the Hilltoppers leading 11-9. St. Edward's won the next four points to force the visitors to call a timeout. The Dustdevils were never able to recover as St. Edward's coasted to a 25-16 win. MARY KOEHLER and ANNA AYCOCK led the offense with four kills each and KELLY JIMENEZ led the defense with nine digs during the set.
The second set saw both teams neck-and-neck early with the set tied, 9-9. That is when the Hilltopper defense picked up the pace. They would register three blocks to go along with two service aces to spark St. Edward's on a 9-2 run and take an 18-11 advantage. They would side-out from there to win set two, 25-18.
In the third set, both teams battled to a 16-16 tie, before Aycock took over with three kills to lead St. Edward's on a 7-1 run and force the Dustdevils to take a timeout at 23-17. Out of the break, TABITHA ELDER tallied back-to-back service aces to give the Hilltoppers the match. St. Edward's would hit .324 as a team during the decisive set.
Koehler led the Hilltoppers with 12 kills to go along with 12 digs. Aycock chipped in with 10 kills, while Jimenez led the defense with 21 digs. JACLYN BILLIE dished out 18 assists and LOREN KELLY added 15 of her own. Elder led St. Edward's with six blocks.
St. Edward's will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to take on 19th-ranked Angelo State. First-serve is set for 6 p.m. at the Junell Center. Live video and stats will be available on the RamBelle Athletic website.
