Box Score Box Score
THE RUNDOWN
FORT SMITH, Ark. – St. Edward's was in every set, but its season came to an end in a 25-22, 29-27, 25-22 loss to No. 1-seed UAFS Friday in the semi-finals round of the Heartland Conference Tournament.
Katie Martin hit .448 in her final match with 14 kills in the losing effort for SEU. The Hilltoppers had leads late in sets two and three, but could not hold the lead. SEU finished with its best record under head coach Mary DeJute as the Hilltoppers wrapped up their third season with her at the helm at 16-11.
UAFS (26-6) advanced after edging SEU in hitting .190-.170, but the Lions were able to put eight more balls away with 51 kills and out-blocked the Hilltoppers 9-5 defensively.
In Madison McClurg's final match, she helped a defensive effort that tallied 86 digs with 15 of her own, and junior Morgan Beckham led SEU with 25. UAFS has never lost at home to SEU and will advance to Saturday's title game in search of its sixth tournament championship in the last seven years.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Katie Martin hit .448 with 14 kills; in her final match as a Hilltopper, she was able to surpass 900-career kills and finished her four-year campaign with 907.
• Martin finished her career with 747 career digs, 96 blocks and 49 service aces.
• Martin's 14 kills gave her 46 career matches with double-digit kills.
• Julia Hartley's 20 assists and 15 digs gave the junior setter her 29th career double-double.
• Mikayla Parker hit .385 with six kills and finished with four blocks, the first of which was the 250th of the junior's career.
• Madison McClurg wrapped up her four-year career with 15 digs and four kills; she finshed her career with 445 kills, 352 digs and 143 blocks.
• Alexa McAndrew's fourth kill was the 400th of her career, and she finished the match with nine Friday; she finished with four digs, the second of which was the 300th of her career.
• Kate Hendrix's 10 digs gave her 10 career matches with double-digit digs.
• Morgan Beckham's 25 digs led the Hilltoppers and she surpassed the 1,700-career digs mark with her fourth dig of the match Friday; it was Beckham's 42nd career game with 20+ digs.
• Olivia Rome collected her fifth double-double of the season with 13 assists and 10 digs.
• SEU is now 22-17 all-time in the Heartland Conference Volleyball Tournament
• The Hilltoppers' 16-11 record in 2017 was the best since 2014 and the best in Mary DeJute's three seasons at the helm.
• 2017 marked the 26th winning season in the school's 44-year history of volleyball.
THEY SAID IT
Katie Martin reflecting on her career as a Hilltopper …
"It's been a good one for sure. Obviously, no season has ended with a ring, which is what we wanted, but I think this year was as close as we've gotten. I think we played really well and we all really wanted to win, we just couldn't get that final push."
Junior Libero Morgan Beckham on SEU's defensive effort which produced 86 digs …
"No one gave up on any point no matter what. Even if the ball went to the wall we had someone there that was trying to get it. That just keeps everyone in the game no matter what the score was, so it helped in those tight situations to give us that last little push."
SEU Head Coach Mary DeJute on the Hilltoppers' season-ending loss …
"I thought we played hard. We pretty much stuck to the game plan, and I think it worked fairly well. I think our hitting was a little bit to be desired. Katie [Martin] did a phenomenal job offensively. Just a couple of other kids, I think if they would've hit a little bit better, it'd be a different situation. They didn't give up, and they fought, and they were very intense, so overall I'm pleased with the kids just not happy with the result."
STAT OF THE GAME I
10 – UAFS has 10-straight wins over SEU and has never lost at home to the Hilltoppers.
