AUSTIN – The St. Edward's Hilltoppers volleyball team closed the weekend's Lone Star Conference Crossover with another five-set thriller, closing today's match with a strong finish to defeat the Oklahoma Christian Eagles 3-2 (25-23, 21-25, 22-25, 25-16, 15-5).
St. Edward's showcased a more balanced attack set by ESTHER GRUSSING, who directed the Hilltoppers with 54 assists with three Hilltoppers reaching double-digit kills on a .227 hitting percentage. AUDREY QUESNEL led the way with a career-high 19 kills on a .385 clip, followed by MAYA SMALLS' 18 kills (.283), and LOURDES GOMEZ (.222).
The Hilltoppers opened the match with a less centralized attack than in previous matches, moving the ball across four different hitters with seven or more attacks. The different looks opened gaps up for Smalls, who had 10 kills on a .500 clip in the set.
St. Edward's hit a scoring drought in the second set, surrendering a 6-0 run with two attack errors and an Eagle's service ace to give Oklahoma Christian a 17-10 lead. The Hilltoppers made a run to cut the deficit to two at 22-20, but Oklahoma Christian's Wendy Cobbah closed the set out with three kills.
Errors cost the Hilltoppers in a close third set, committing nine attack errors, three service errors, and two block errors in a set St. Edward's had a 16-13 edge in kills.
St. Edward's found its footing with its serve in the fourth set, recording three service aces and putting Oklahoma Christian out of system, limiting the Eagles to a .086 hitting percentage. The pressure translated to more balls set towards the net for St. Edward's and Quesnel capitalizing on it with eight kills on a .278 hitting percentage in the set.
The Hilltoppers also found sparks off the bench in CAMDYN KINDRED and CASSIDY COLE, who entered the match for the first time and provided a few big swings to keep the Eagles off balance.
St. Edward's stifled Oklahoma Christian in the fifth set with a strong service game, stout defense, and balanced attack, limiting the Eagles to three kills against six attack errors. Impressively, an attack that had been heavily reliant on Smalls early on this season managed to close the match out on a 9-0 run with Smalls on the bench, getting a pair of kills each from Cole and Gomez, and a big block by Grussing and Cole.
In addition to her 19 kills, Quesnel had four block assists, tying AJANI HODGES for the team high. SARAH KONOVODOFF led the team with 21 digs and three aces.
St. Edward's improves to 3-8 with the win. The Hilltoppers will travel next weekend for road matches against Midwestern State (Friday, Sept. 16) and Texas Woman's University (Saturday, Sept. 17).
