SHAWNEE, Okla. – The St. Edward's Hilltoppers volleyball team broke through with its two most efficient matches of the season, wrapping up the Oklahoma Baptist University Fall Tournament with its first two wins of the season.
"We knew we were going to have four tough matches this weekend. We focused on three big points at practice this week and our goal was to implement them this weekend," St. Edward's head volleyball coach Stefanie Holler says. "Overall, I believe we executed well. It was great to see some of our players step into their roles and excel. We had a stellar offensive game on Saturday and I hope to continue working on that this week."
St. Edwards 3, Arkansas Tech 1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-17, 25-13)
The Hilltoppers put together their most efficient offensive attack in eight matches, producing a season-best .243 hitting percentage to defeat Arkansas Tech for their first win of the season.
ESTHER GRUSSING set the table for a balanced attack with 35 assists and four different Hilltoppers finishing with nine or more kills. MAYA SMALLS led the way with 12 kills on a .184 clip. The senior right-side hitter also contributed 16 digs, a service ace, a solo block, and a block assist.
LOURDES GOMEZ added a career-high 11 kills on 32 total attacks for a .250 hitting percentage and two block assists. AUDREY QUESNEL and HALLE SANDERS contributed nine kills each on an efficient .471 and .421 hitting percentage.
Both teams started sluggishly in the early morning match, splitting the first two sets with a 25-22 win for St. Edward's and a 25-23 set for Arkansas State.
The Hilltoppers got stronger as the match progressed, however, racking up a higher percentage in each subsequent set.
St. Edward's stifled Arkansas Tech at the net in the third set with five team blocks and 20 digs, limiting Arkansas Tech to a negative hitting percentage at -.026 thanks in part to the work of AJANI HODGES and Sanders up front. Arkansas Tech compounded its struggles with four service errors.
Sanders and Smalls dominated in the fifth set, combining for 11 kills with each hitting better than .450 while holding Arkansas Tech to single-digit kills for a second consecutive set.
St. Edward's 3, Union 0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-18)
The Hilltoppers drove Union back on its heels with a powerful serve game, racking up a season-high eight service aces to earn its first win streak of the season.
LOURDES GOMEZ wrapped up a solid tournament performance with a match-high nine kills on a career-best .364 hitting percentage, finishing the weekend with 38 kills on a .207 hitting percentage, averaging 2.71 kills per set. MAYA SMALLS continued her strong early-season play with eight kills on a .269 clip.
Both teams started on even footing, battling to a 7-7 tie to start the first set. Small sparked the Hilltoppers on a 7-0 run to gain separation, contributing two kills and two blocks in the run to lead St. Edward's to the first-set win.
The second set was the most tightly contested with Union putting down 18 kills, though committing nine attack errors in the process. The Hilltoppers picked up points in the margins with three service aces and four team blocks to go with nine kills.
St. Edward's never trailed in the third set as three attack errors put Union in an early hole from which they never recovered. Smalls and Gomez had three kills each in the set and AUDREY QUESNEL and HALLE SANDERS added two each.
"Breaking through with two wins to finish out this weekend was really exciting. As a team, we were able to be more aggressive behind the serve line, which helps us across the net. We were able to hit some different shots that put the other team in an uncomfortable situation," libero SARAH KONOVODOFF says. "The biggest thing that stood out to me was our team's mental effort to come back after some tough losses and execute. Heading into another weekend at home, we can continue to work as one unit and play strategically to our strength."
With the two wins, St. Edward's heads into conference play with momentum. The Hilltoppers will host an LSC Crossover Tournament next week with matches against Texas A&M University - Kingsville, Eastern New Mexico University, and Oklahoma Christian University from Thursday, Sept. 8 through Saturday, Sept. 10.
