SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word volleyball team is back at home for the first time in nearly three weeks this weekend. They host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Thursday at 7 p.m., and Houston Baptist on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the McDermott Center.  Thursday's game is Dig Pink Night for the Cardinals while on Saturday the team will conduct a youth clinic following the match.

The Cardinals (6-14, 2-5) are coming off a 4-set victory against Southland Conference rivals McNeese State on Sunday.  The Cardinals used a strong night from Angelique Vidaurri (San Antonio/Southwest HS) who had a career high 24 kills in the match. 

Texas A&M Corpus Christi (10-12, 3-2 SLC) split a pair of matches last week. They lost 3-1 to Stephen F. Austin and beat Northwestern State, 3-1.  In their victory against the Demons, Brianna Brink had a match high 19 kills to lead the Islanders to their third victory in conference.  The Islanders were picked to finish third in the Southland Conference in the coaches' preseason poll.  As a team this year, the Islanders are averaging 12.59 kills and 17.60 digs per set and are hitting .197.  Brink leads the team with 291 kills and ranks 7th in the conference with 3.38 kills per set. Kristyn Nicholson has 674 assists and Ivy Baresh leads the defensive side with 276 digs.

Houston Baptist (7-12, 2-3 SLC) is on a 3-match losing streak. Last week, they were swept by Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin, both at home. The Huskies were picked to finish sixth in the Southland Conference preseason coaches' poll. Jessica Wooten leads the Huskies with 3.66 kills per set which ranks sixth in the conference.   Kayla Armer leads in assists with 686 and Haley Hoffman leads the defense with 264 digs. Armer's 10.39 assists per set which ranks third in the conference.  As a team, the Huskies are averaging 12.3 kills and 15.8 digs per set and are hitting .186.

The Cardinals are averaging 11.2 kills and 15.0 digs per set and are hitting .150. Claudia Hernandez (San Antonio/Antonian HS) leads the Cardinals' defense with 3.53 digs per set while Vidaurri leads the attack with 3.01 kills per set.  Kaitlyn Brooks (Sugar Land/Fort Bend Austin HS) leads the team with 5.70 assists per set.
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