CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS – The University of Incarnate Word volleyball team will begin a two match Southland Conference road trip on Thursday as the team travels to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 6:30 p.m. After they play the Islanders, the Cardinals will finish up their road trip on Saturday at Houston Baptist starting at 1 p.m.
The Cardinals (4-11, 2-4) are coming off of a 3-1 victory against Lamar and they are 2-2 in their last four matches heading into Thursday's matchup. On the road this season, UIW has struggled going 1-4 and they will look to improve that on this weekend.
Leading the Cardinals attack is freshman
Autumn Lockley (Leander/Leander HS) who has emerged as a leader over the last six matches averaging 4.0 kills/set during that span and 2.93 kills/set for the season.
Shaina Garza (San Antonio/Warren HS) is also a big part of the Cardinal attack averaging 2.27 kills/set. Directing the attack are
Taylor McClelland (Cypress/Cypress Ranch HS) and
Kaitlyn Brooks (Sugar Land/Fort Bend Austin HS) who are averaging 5.42 assist/set and 4.56 assist/set, respectively. The libero,
Claudia Hernandez (San Antonio/Antonian HS) leads the Cardinals defense with 3.60 digs/set.
In their next match, the Cardinals will go up against the Southland Conference leaders Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (18-4, 6-0) who is currently on an eight match winning streak with six of those victories in just three sets. In their last match, the Islanders defeated Northwestern State 3-0 for their sixth conference win of the season. Leading the attack for the Islanders is senior outside hitter Ivy Baresh who is averaging 3.23 kills/set for the season with a .228 attacking percentage. Kelsee Felux is second on the team with 2.89 kills/set and she has a .198 hitting percentage. Directing the Islander attack is sophomore setter Kristyn Nicholson who is averaging 10.65 assists/set. The top defender is libero Kate Klepetka who is averaging 5.74 digs/set. As a team, the Islanders are averaging 13.19 kills/set with a .239 attacking percentage.
When the Cardinals travel to Houston on Saturday, they will take on Houston Baptist (9-11, 2-4) who is currently one spot above UIW in the Southland Conference standings. Their last time out, the Huskies fell to Stephen F. Austin, 3-1 and they are 1-4 in their last five matches. Leading the attack for Houston Baptist is Jessica Wooten who is averaging 3.04 kills/set with a .191 hitting percentage. Bailey Banks is also a crucial part of the Huskies attack averaging 2.43 kills/set with a hitting percentage of .214. The leading setter for the Huskies is Kayla Armer who is averaging 9.30 assists/set and Jessica Wooten leads the team in digs with 2.74 per set.
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