SAINT LEO, Fla. – Saint Michael's ended St. Edward's string of six consecutive sets won to open their final Saint Leo's Tournament match. The Hilltoppers responded by establishing a new one, taking the following three sets to end the weekend 3-1.
KAT NEILLE was explosive, bombarding Saint Michael's with 15 kills on a .429 clip, and the Hilltoppers matched a season-high with 10 aces and blocked eight shots to hold Saint Michael's under .100 hitting in two of the four sets.
St. Edward's opened up an early 12-6 lead in the first set, but Saint Michael's came storming back behind five aces from Kyla Farnan, and four kills each from Grace Almeida and Dana Welch to go up 1-0 on a 26-24 first-set win.
The Hilltopper defense found its footing in the second set behind four digs each from
GISELLE OJEDA and
JAZZY WILLIAMS.
DELANEY GREGORY also contributed four receptions and three digs to helpshore things up.
ALTHEA MORRIS set a balanced attack with eight of the team's 10 assists, finding six different Hilltoppers for a combined 12 kills and a .241 hitting percentage to tie the match with a 25-16 win.
In the third set, Neille torched Saint Michael's defense, recording six kills on eight attempts with no errors, and
ADDY BADLEY offered a nice one-two punch with four kills on nine attacks. St. Edward's setters Morris and
JAIDEN LAVANWAY combined for 16 assists, orchestrating an attack that hit .400 in the set.
St. Edward's struggled with its efficiency in the third set but held up enough defensively for Saint Michael's to beat itself with seven attack errors and four service errors. Neille and
KELLI FORDING combined for five of the Hilltoppers' nine kills in the set, and Williams contributed three aces.
Badley finished second on the team in kills with 10 on a .364 hitting percentage, Fording added nine,
MIA CLAY posted eight, and
CARRINGTON JAIMES contributed six. Morris led the Hilltoppers with 33 assists, and Williams contributed 19 digs and five aces.
St. Edward's improves to 6-2 after the 3-1 weekend. The Hilltoppers will return to Texas and play Cameron, Oklahoma Christian, and St. Mary's next week in San Antonio at the LSC Crossover Tournament.
