AUSTIN, Texas — St. Edward's volleyball celebrated its past and added a few new milestones to its present, rallying behind KAYLEN LEMBCKE's career-high 22 kills to defeat St. Mary's 17-25, 25-19, 25-14, 25-23 in Saturday's Battle of the Saints on Alumni Day.
Lembcke provided the breakthrough after a sluggish opening set, delivering nine kills in the second and finishing with seven kills on seven swings in the fourth to help the Hilltoppers close out their rivals. She hit .500 for the match, surpassing her previous career high of 19 kills against Michigan Tech earlier this season, and added two aces and three blocks.
The Hilltoppers also celebrated three career milestones. ALTHEA MORRIS surpassed 2,500 assists, finishing with 38 to bring her total to 2,526. KELLI FORDING served her 100th career ace during consecutive aces in the third set, finishing with 101, and GRACE MCDONALD crossed 100 career blocks with five to reach 104.
St. Edward's struggled to establish its attack in the opener, recording five kills against 10 errors. St. Mary's limited the Hilltoppers to a .280 sideout rate, taking the early advantage despite hitting just .042 itself.
The response came immediately in the second.
Morris opened with an ace, then combined with Lembcke to turn the set's opening rotation into a seven-point run. Lembcke accounted for four consecutive points with kills, and BEA ANGELES capped the surge with another to give St. Edward's a 7-0 lead.
Lembcke put down six kills before St. Mary's reached its third point, giving the Hilltoppers a reliable answer against a Rattler block that finished with 15 total blocks. She ended the set with nine kills on .571 hitting, while Morris distributed 14 assists as St. Edward's produced 18 kills to even the match.
The Hilltoppers carried that momentum into the third, scoring the first six points behind Jaimes' serve and three Lembcke kills. St. Mary's trimmed the lead to 8-6, but St. Edward's answered with another sustained push.
A block from Fording and Jaimes helped rebuild the margin, and Fording's consecutive aces stretched it to 18-8. The Hilltoppers held St. Mary's to seven kills against nine errors in the set, taking control of the match with a 25-14 win.
The fourth required a different response.
St. Mary's built a 16-10 lead before Lembcke supplied a kill and joined McDonald for a block to begin closing the gap. Lembcke later added another kill and an ace, while LANDRY BAUGHMAN contributed two kills off assists from MACY PHILLIPS to keep the Hilltoppers within reach.
An Angeles ace helped narrow the deficit, and Fording eventually tied the set at 20 with a kill. The teams traded points from there, with Lembcke delivering kills to pull St. Edward's even at 22 and again at 23.
Clay followed with a kill for match point, and a St. Mary's attack error completed the comeback.
St. Edward's finished with 12 aces against five service errors, receiving two aces each from Angeles, Morris, Lembcke, Fording, Ojeda and Jaimes. Clay added 10 kills, Fording contributed eight, and Ojeda led the defense with 12 digs. Briceno added eight digs while handling a team-high 28 reception attempts.
The victory improves St. Edward's to 11-9 overall and 6-4 in Lone Star Conference play. St. Mary's falls to 10-10 and 3-7.
