AUSTIN – The St. Edward's Hilltoppers volleyball team overcame a sluggish start, locking in defensively after a rough first set to sweep the final three sets and defeat the Cameron Aggies 3-1 (15-25, 25-19, 25-9, 25-23).

St. Edward's trailed from start to finish in a rough first set, hanging tough at 15-12 before Cameron reeled off a 10-3 run to close the set with a 25-15 win. Arianna Navarrete and Jacee Stetler led a potent Aggie attack in the first set with a combined 11 kills on 19 attack with only one error as Cameron hit .379 as a team. 

The Hilltoppers dug in defensively, posting 14 total team blocks over the final three sets, holding the Aggies to .054 or less in hitting percentage the rest of the way. 

MAYA SMALLS and AJANI HODGES had three block assists each in the second set, combining for nine points on better than .300 hitting to even the match with a 25-19 win. 

AUDREY QUESNEL joined the block party in the third set, sending four shots back, including three block assists and one solo block. SARAH KONOVODOFF led the team with eight of her match-high 25 digs in the set to limit Cameron to three kills on 36 attacks with 10 errors for a -.194 hitting percentage. 

This Hilltoppers jumped out to a commanding 18-10 lead in the fourth set but Cameron battled back to pull within two at 22-20. LOURDES GOMEZ and Hodges were too much in the set, however, combining for nine kills on 18 attacks to lead the Hilltoppers to a 25-23 win and 3-1 overall victory. 

Gomez and Smalls led St. Edward's with 10 kills each. Gomez was more efficient, hitting .346 to .243, but Smalls led the team in points with 13, adding four block assists and a solo block. 

St. Edward's improves to 5-10 with a 2-2 conference record. The Hilltoppers will travel to Lubbock, Texas, next weekend to play Lubbock Christian University on Friday, followed by a road match against Eastern New Mexico University on Saturday.