AUSTIN, Texas – St. Edward's University Volleyball earned its second win at home in Heartland Conference play on Saturday with a 3-1 victory over UT-Permian Basin, moving them to 5-12 overall and 3-5 in the conference. The Falcons fall to 3-11 and 2-6.
A total of four Hilltoppers registered double-double performances in a whole-team effort that pushed head coach Mary DeJute's team to a triumphant home appearance 25-21, 11-25, 25-17, and 28-26.
KATIE MARTIN,
MIKAYLA GRILL,
JULIA HARTLEY, and
AVALON FRANTZ all recorded double-digit digs with Martin and Grill collecting 15 kills and 12 kills, respectively. Frantz and Hartley dealt out 19 assists each to round out the quartet of Topper double-doubles. A 26-dig effort from
MORGAN BECKHAM led the St. Edward's defense, and an outstanding effort at the net from
TABITHA ELDER produced one solo block and six block assists, a season high for the junior.
"The girls came out with a real drive to win, and also a drive to play as a team," said coach DeJute following the win. "We played very very hard. This team plays hard all the time. That's something that a coach absolutely loves. It was a team effort. We are really banged up and limited at certain positions, but they came out and they did it."
Kills from Grill and
KATHLEEN JANDA, combined with a service ace from
KATIE MARTIN, pushed St. Edward's to an early 5-0 lead in game one. The Toppers maintained its lead to 10-5 before a UTPB rally pulled the visitors within a point of the home team. The Falcons attempted to hold onto the momentum but timely kills from Martin, Janda, and Elder pushed St. Edward's to a set-one win.
In game two Hartley opened the action with a service ace. However, Permian Basin stormed ahead 8-2 and would not look back, hitting a match-best .290 for the set and holding coach DeJute's team to a negative attacking percentage.
The intermission provided St. Edward's a much-needed chance to regroup, and in game three the Hilltoppers battled with UTPB for each point. With just a two-point advantage at 11-9, a
JESSICA BUSHONG kill sparked a 4-0 Topper run that the Falcons could not overcome. A service ace from Beckham and a kill from Katie Hendrix would seal the set and give coach DeJute's squad a 2-1 advantage in the game.
Game four proved to be the toughest of the match, but St. Edward's showed it was up to the task, producing its best hitting game of the night with an attacking percentage of .283. Trailing the Falcons 13-7, assisted blocks from the duos of Bushong and Elder, and Martin and Elder pulled the Toppers within two and forced a Permian Basin timeout. However, the timeout came too late as the Elder-led team had already taken back momentum. A kill from Grill gave the home team its first lead of the set at 17-16, and a kill from Bushong, assisted by Elder would seal the win.
The Hilltoppers return to action next Thursday in a nonconference tilt at Texas A&M Kingsville. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. with live coverage available through www.GoHilltoppers.com. Fans can also follow the team on Twitter at @SEUVBall and on Facebook by searching St. Edward's University Volleyball.
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