MATCH INFORMATION
Score: St. Edward's 3, St. Mary's 2 (20-25, 14-25, 26-24, 25-22, 15-11)
Records: St. Edward's (3-6, 1-0 HC), St. Mary's (5-6, 0-1 HC)
Location: Bill Greehey Arena, San Antonio, Texas
 
SEU TOP PERFORMERS
-Junior hitter MADISON MCCLURG had a career night with 24 kills on 47 attempts, hitting .468. She also teamed up on two blocks and registered six digs.
-KATIE MARTIN remained hot for the Hilltoppers using 15 kills and 19 digs for her fifth-straight double-double.
-Redshirt freshman ALEXA MCANDREW also hopped on the double-double train with 14 kills and 13 digs. A pair of service aces capped off her 16-point night.
-AVALON FRANTZ and JACLYN BILLIE held down the setting duties with 57 combined assists as Frantz led the way with 36.
-On defense, senior middle TABITHA ELDER whipped out six block assists and MORGAN BECKHAM chalked up 21 more digs towards her season total.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
-In the first set, McClurg smashed two-straight kills followed by an ace serve from MiKayla Parker and a kill from Martin to make it 18-19.
-A timeout by St. Mary's gave the opposition the boost they needed to pull away for a 1-0 lead.
-The Rattlers took an early 7-1 lead in set two that took the spark out of SEU's offense as the home team jumped ahead two sets to none.
-After the intermission both teams exchanged the lead before kills via Martin and McAndrew gave the Hilltoppers a 23-21 lead.
-A McClurg kill, and a double block from Elder and McClurg kept St. Edward's in the match.
-Set four found momentum on the Hilltoppers side as the visitors jumped ahead 4-0.
-St. Mary's mounted a comeback, but back-to-back blocks gave the lead back to SEU, 7-5.
-KATE HENDRIX tied the game at 20, and then it was McClurg again, finishing off the fourth set with the Hilltoppers final three points.
-In the rubber game, St. Edward's took a 3-1 lead behind McClurg, Martin, and McAndrew and never looked back.
-The final two points of the game were kills from McClurg yet again.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-The Hilltoppers have now won seven out of their last nine matches against the Rattlers in Bill Greehey Arena.
-St. Edward's continued its roll on defense as it held St. Mary's to a hitting percentage of .179. This season only two teams have hit over .200 on the Hilltoppers.
-Exactly one third of SEU's matches this season have lasted five sets. This is the Hilltoppers first five-set win of the year.
 
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH MARY DEJUTE
"It was a lot of heart. They just started working a little harder, a little smarter, and turned on the offense and put the engines in gear and went. I'm happy that we got the win. However, we're just going to have to go back and work a little harder on our blocking. We're definitely close. I think our timing was real off. They have some kids that can really jump, and our timing was off. We'll just go back to the drawing board on that and work on that in the morning."
 
On the play of MADISON MCCLURG: "It's taken her about year, since her injury, to really become 100 percent. We're finally seeing what Maty has in her. We're thrilled with the fact that she came out like gangbusters tonight. She stayed real consistent, took advantage of what St. Mary's gave us and was absolutely key tonight."
 
UP NEXT
Coach DeJute and the Hilltoppers head to Laredo, Texas on Saturday for a doubleheader against Texas A&M-International and Western New Mexico. The Heartland Conference match against the Dustdevils gets underway at noon, followed by the regional matchup against the Mustangs at 2:30 p.m. Live stats will be available for both games with live video for the TAMIU match at GoHilltoppers.com.