AUSTIN – St. Edward's volleyball didn't disappoint fans in their return to the Hilltop, downing Eastern New Mexico 3-1 Friday evening.
 
The Hilltoppers were electric early and jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the first set, igniting the crowd. ENMU refused to back down and were able to claw back into the set and closed the set with seven straight points to win 25-22.
 
Set two was a grudge match throughout with the lead seesawing back and forth. The Hilltoppers got four straight points late that proved to be crucial, putting SEU up 23-20 to set up the 25-22 set two win.
 
SEU held on to an early lead in the third set, winning 25-20, to go up 2 sets to one. Despite trailing by five midway through set four, St. Edward's battled back with an 11-2 run to lead 22-18 before closing out the set 25-23 for the win.
 
St. Edward's hit .152 for the match and was led by KAITLYN KRAFKA who posted 14 kills. JILLIENNE CONNELL added ten and LAUREN SCOTT eight in the attack. SARAH KONOVODOFF was outstanding defensively with 26 digs to lead in the game while Krafka added five blocks.
 
The Hilltoppers improve to 9-5 on the season and 4-3 in Lone Star Conference play. They return to the Recreation and Athletics Center on Saturday, facing West Texas A&M at 1 pm.