SAN ANTONIO – ALTHEA MORRIS showed complete mastery of the St. Edward's attack in a battle of two 7-2 teams, orchestrating a brutally efficient offense in volleyball's 3-1 win over the Oklahoma Christian Eagles. 
 
St. Edward's put down a season-high 62 kills on a .352 clip set by Morris's career-high 55 assists and team-high 16 digs. The first-year setter found the right hitter more often than not, and St. Edward's front row responded with four Hilltoppers hitting better than .300 on at least 10 attacks. 
 
The Hilltoppers fell behind 18-14 in the first set but closed it on an 11-5 run with three kills and a block assist from KAT NEILLE, and three late kills from KELLI FORDING to take the first set 25-23. Neille and Fording each had six kills on .417 and .500 hitting, with all 18 Hilltopper kills in the set assisted by Morris. 
 
St. Edward's opened the second set on a dominant 8-1 run. Neille and JAZZY WILLIAMS accounted for the first five points of the set with back-to-back aces from Williams and four kills from Neille. Neille answered Oklahoma Christian's first point with back-to-back kills, and CORA YOUNG added her first of three aces in the set. 
 
After going to Neille early and often in the set, Morris mixed in some attacks for MIA CLAY and Fording, who had four kills each on a combined 11 attempts. The Hilltoppers led from start to finish, taking the set 25-14 with a .533 hitting percentage. 
 
Oklahoma Christian managed to slow the Hilltopper attack for the only time in the third set, recording four blocks and limiting St. Edward's to a .162 hitting percentage. In contrast, three Eagles recorded four kills in the 25-22 win. 
 
St. Edward's responded dominantly. Fording posted six kills on nine attacks, a block assist, and two of the Hilltoppers' five aces for a 25-11 win to clinch the match. 
 
Neille led three Hilltoppers in double-digit kills with a career-high 19 on a .436 clip. Fording contributed 18 kills (.333), and Clay finished with 12 (.258). ADDY BADLEY and Young each had five kills on .308 and .500 hitting. 
 
St. Edward's improves to 8-2 with the win. The Hilltoppers will close out the LSC Preview tomorrow with a match against host St. Mary's at 3:00 p.m.