AUSTIN, Texas — St. Edward's volleyball made its move midway through sets, finding separation as the rotations came back around and protecting those leads with steady sideout offense to sweep Oklahoma Christian 25-19, 25-20, 25-20 on Friday night.
The Hilltoppers turned a 9-9 tie into a 17-12 advantage in the second set, then broke a 13-13 tie with four consecutive points in the third. Different rotations supplied the momentum, with GISELLE OJEDA's serving helping open the second set and IVY WACLAWCZYK's service turn pairing with MIA CLAY's finishing to take control of the third.
St. Edward's improved to 13-9 overall and 8-4 in Lone Star Conference play, breaking a tie with Oklahoma Christian and moving a match ahead of the Eagles in the conference race. The victory snapped Oklahoma Christian's five-match winning streak and gave the Hilltoppers their third consecutive win.
St. Edward's has won six of its past seven matches, with five of those victories coming in straight sets. Friday marked its eighth sweep of the season, the program's most since recording 10 in fall 2021.
KAYLEN LEMBCKE and KELLI FORDING led the attack with 15 kills and just two errors apiece. Lembcke hit .500, and Fording finished at .464, combining for 30 kills on 54 swings. Clay added 12 kills, and GRACE MCDONALD contributed seven as the Hilltoppers hit .331 with a 52-35 advantage in kills.
ALTHEA MORRIS orchestrated the offense with 41 assists and added 11 digs for a double-double. Ojeda anchored the defense with 23 digs and supplied two of St. Edward's four aces.
The Hilltoppers complemented their scoring bursts by consistently denying Oklahoma Christian opportunities to build its own runs, siding out at 84 percent in the first set, 71 percent in the second, and 80 percent in the third.
Fording helped establish control in the opener, delivering four kills during a 7-2 stretch that turned a 3-3 tie into a 10-5 lead. McDonald supplied four kills without an error in the set, and Lembcke added six as St. Edward's hit .400.
The Hilltoppers extended their lead to 24-16 before Oklahoma Christian fought off three set points. Lembcke ended the rally with a kill to secure the opener.
Oklahoma Christian forced seven ties in the second before St. Edward's began creating separation on its second trip through the service order. The Hilltoppers moved ahead 14-12 before Ojeda served three consecutive points through a Morris-CARRINGTON JAIMES block, a Fording kill, and an ace.
The Eagles answered to pull within 17-15, but Fording supplied the sideout kill to bring Morris to the service line. Lembcke followed with consecutive kills, and Morris delivered an ace to push the advantage to 21-15. LANDRY BAUGHMAN finished the set with a kill off a Clay assist.
The third featured 10 ties before the Hilltoppers found another opening midway through. An Oklahoma Christian service error broke a 13-13 tie, Waclawczyk followed with an ace, and Clay delivered consecutive kills to build a 17-13 lead.
When the Eagles ended Waclawczyk's service run, Clay immediately answered with another kill. She finished with seven kills in the third, while Fording added six without an error, helping St. Edward's keep Oklahoma Christian from drawing closer than three the rest of the way.
Fording delivered the final kill to complete the sweep.
Oklahoma Christian fell to 14-10 overall and 7-5 in conference play. St. Edward's returns to the Recreation and Athletics Center on Saturday to host Cameron at 2 p.m.
