AUSTIN, Texas — St. Edward's volleyball has been explosive in search of efficiency through the first few weeks of the season, balancing out to break even by splitting every week's slate of matches to enter its West Texas road trip with a 6-6 record, including 1-1 in conference play.
St. Edward's travels to Wichita Falls to face Midwestern State on Friday before heading to Lubbock Christian on Saturday. The Hilltoppers enter the trip 6-6 overall and 1-1 in conference play after sweeping UT Permian Basin and falling in four sets to nationally ranked Angelo State during their home opening weekend.
The split offered two useful measures of the Hilltoppers' progress. Against UT Permian Basin, St. Edward's controlled the match from the start and finished off a three-set win. Against Angelo State, the Hilltoppers took a set from one of the league's strongest teams but could not sustain enough pressure to complete the upset. Now comes a chance to apply those lessons against two opponents with very different early conference results: Midwestern State is unbeaten in LSC play, while Lubbock Christian is trying to find its footing under a new head coach.
St. Edward's has built its best stretches around a productive attack. The Hilltoppers average 13.21 kills per set, fourth in the LSC, and 12.09 assists per set, fifth. Junior setter ALTHEA MORRIS leads the conference with 10.19 assists per set and has 479 through 12 matches. Her ability to keep multiple hitters involved will be especially valuable on a weekend when both opponents have capable back rows. Senior outside hitter KELLI FORDING gives Morris a reliable option when a rally breaks down: her 150 kills and 3.66 per set rank fifth in the league.
There is still room to turn that volume into greater efficiency. St. Edward's is hitting .188 as a team, 10th in the conference, despite ranking among its leaders in kills. The Hilltoppers have shown their ceiling, hitting .461 in a sweep of UT Dallas earlier this month. Finding more of that balance—aggressive swings without giving away points on errors—could decide close sets on the road.
Libero GISELLE OJEDA provides stability behind the attack. Her 200 digs and 4.26 per set rank sixth in the LSC, while DELANEY GREGORY has added service pressure with 13 aces in 30 sets. St. Edward's has also limited opponents to 1.28 aces per set, the fourth-best mark in the conference. Clean first contacts will be particularly important against Midwestern State, whose offense is among the league's most efficient.
Friday's match is a rematch of one of St. Edward's early tests. The Hilltoppers beat Midwestern State in five sets at the Mountain Lion Classic on Sept. 4, but the Mustangs have gained momentum since then. They enter the weekend 6-6 overall and 2-0 in LSC play on a three-match winning streak after road victories over Western New Mexico and Sul Ross State. This time, the teams meet on Midwestern State's home floor.
Midwestern State hits .217 as a team, seventh in the LSC, and averages 13.23 kills per set, just ahead of St. Edward's. Isabella Dickens is its central attacking threat. She has 136 kills and is hitting .317, pairing steady production with the ability to finish efficiently. Jaiden Wright adds another efficient option at .323, so limiting the Mustangs requires more than concentrating on one hitter. Setter Macy Scheer averages 7.14 assists per set, and libero Jenna Redding anchors the defense with 3.84 digs per set.
The statistical opening for St. Edward's is on the other side of the net. Opponents are hitting .238 against Midwestern State, the third-highest mark allowed in the conference. If Morris can give Fording and the rest of the attack quality swings in transition, the Hilltoppers have a chance to reproduce the offensive success that helped them win the first meeting. The challenge is doing so while containing a Mustangs attack that has become more confident since early September.
Lubbock Christian has played its first 12 matches away from home and will open its home schedule Friday against St. Mary's before hosting St. Edward's at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Lady Chaps are 5-7 overall and 1-1 in LSC play after sweeping Sul Ross State and losing at Western New Mexico. They went 11-3 at home last season, when they shared the LSC regular-season title.
That championship team has a different look under first-year head coach Tyler Neal, but sophomore setter Camdyn Sears remains a key piece. The LSC preseason setter of the year averages 8.13 assists per set and has recorded four consecutive double-doubles. Camryn Blair leads the Lady Chaps with 105 kills, while freshman middle blocker Kayson Reeves is hitting .283 and leads the team with 32 blocks. LCU's offense has been uneven overall at .153, though its .339 hitting performance against Sul Ross State showed what it can do when its passing gives Sears options.
For St. Edward's, the weekend comes down to carrying its offensive identity through long rallies and difficult stretches. Morris and Fording have given the Hilltoppers a dependable connection, and Ojeda has kept plenty of possessions alive. Turning those chances into efficient attacks—first against a surging Midwestern State team, then in Lubbock Christian's first home weekend—would give St. Edward's a meaningful early foothold in the LSC race.
