Box Score Box Score

THE RUNDOWN
AUSTIN, Texas. – KATIE MARTIN's 17 kills and St. Edward's University's .297 hitting mark helped the Hilltoppers take down St. Mary's (5-7, 0-1) Thursday at the Recreation and Convocation Center 25-23, 25-20, 25-19. Despite trailing 5-0 and later 19-11 in the first set, SEU (9-4, 1-0) closed the frame with a 14-4 run and never relinquished control. Martin, the senior outside hitter, added three service aces and six digs with her 17 kills, which were accompanied with a .316 hitting mark. Freshman MELISSA MCNEIL aided the Hilltoppers offense with 13 kills on a sparking .455 hitting mark.

Defensively, MORGAN BECKHAM led all players with 20 digs while MIKAYLA PARKER added four assisted blocks. SEU out-dug St. Mary's 47-38, but the difference in the match on paper was offensive efficiency. The Hilltoppers collected 49 kills on 111 attempts with 16 errors while the Rattlers managed a .204 mark.

The last time St. Edward's defeated St. Mary's in three sets came at home Oct. 24, 2013, and Thursday marked the ninth consecutive season that the Hilltoppers have opened conference play with a victory.

HIGHLIGHTS
• KATIE MARTIN's 17 kills were the second-highest number for her this season and best in three-set matches.
• Martin now has 36 career matches with double-digit kills.
• Beckham's 20 digs mark the 33rd time in her career she's had at least 20.
• MADISON HEALD led SEU with 20 assists, a season-high for the freshman.
• MELISSA MCNEIL's 13 kills gave her three matches this season in double digits.
• After a .455 hitting night for McNeil, she has 23 kills and a .578 hitting mark in SEU's last two matches.
• JULIA HARTLEY's 17 assists helped her pass the 900-career assists mark, and she carries 911 into Saturday's matches.

STAT OF THE GAME I
8 – SEU overcame an eight-point deficit in the first set after trailing 19-11 and closed with a 14-4 run to take a 25-23 win to open the match.

THEY SAID IT
SEU Head Coach Mary DeJute on a strong crowd, KATIE MARTIN, MELISSA MCNEIL and MORGAN BECKHAM …
"It's always nice having a great crowd, and of course, Battle of the Saints is always a big one. We definitely battled back that first set. We were down and it was nice to see them battle back, but at the same time, nobody was getting upset or worried about it. Everybody stayed calm, cool, and collected … Did the job. KATIE MARTIN did a phenomenal job tonight, not only offensively, but defensively she did very, very well. She was kind of a calm leader out on the court. MELISSA MCNEIL did a phenomenal job being a freshman. It was her first time out [in conference play], with a big crowd. She started off a little slow, but she came back and really took charge. MORGAN BECKHAM was phenomenal. She didn't let anything hit the ground. I was really, really pleased with her play. Overall, it was a very good team win. We're really excited about where we are headed and of course, we are getting ready for Saturday."

WHAT'S NEXT
St. Edward's resumes conference play Saturday at Noon, playing host to Texas A&M International. Following that match, SEU will play a non-conference match with Henderson State at 4 p.m.