SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of Incarnate Word volleyball team continued their recent hot streak with fourth straight home victory against McNeese State on Tuesday afternoon.

The match was one of the closest of the year for the Cardinals (7-13, 5-6), but they were able to edge out the Cowgirls (10-15, 5-5) 25-17, 21-25, 19-25, 31-29, 15-9.  UIW trailed in both the fourth and fifth sets before coming back to win.  In the fifth set, they trailed 7-2 before scoring 13 of the final 15 points of the match.
             
In the opening set, the Cardinals came out ready to play and took control of the set and raced to a big early lead.  The UIW attack was balanced as seven different Cardinals registered at least one kill in the set.  Bryaunea Hall (Copperas Cove/Copperas Cove HS) picked up where she left off last week with another great performance.  In the first set alone, Hall was credited with five kills to lead the Cardinals in the set.  As a team, the Cardinals had17 kills and a .395 attack percentage.
           
The next two sets would be a different story for UIW.  After starting the match out on a high note, the Cardinals would go on to lose the second and third sets of the match as McNeese State regained their composer.  In the second set, UIW had 15 kills with a .275 attack percentage, but it was not enough because the Cowgirls managed to put up 20 kills to outlast the Cardinals, 25-21 and even up the match at 1-1.  The third set was the toughest of the match for UIW as they were unable to match the firepower of the Cowgirls attack.  For the third set, McNeese State would reach 18 kills with a .292 attack percentage.  UIW would go on to lose the third set 25-19 and fall behind 2-1 in the match.
           
Just when it looked as if McNeese State would run away with the match, the Cardinals responded in the fourth set with one of the most important set victories of the season.  It started out slowly for UIW as they fell behind early 3-0.  However, the team came alive after a kill by Autumn Lockley (Leander/Leander HS) gave the Cardinals an 11-10 advantage.  Each team would trade points and neither could take more than a two-point lead as the set progressed.  As both teams battled late in the set to decide the winner, the turning point came when Sarea Alexander (San Antonio/MacArthur HS) gave the Cardinals a 30-29 lead with a kill.  After the play, Alexander became the hero of the set with an electric kill to give the Cardinals the set victory and tie the match at 2-2.
           
In the pivotal fifth set, UIW fell behind early to the Cowgirls, 7-2 and it looked as McNeese State take the set, but just like earlier in the match, UIW responded with great effort and they would tie the set at 8-8 on a service ace by Jordan Reifsteck (Allen/Oswego East HS).  After the Cardinals tied the set, they would finish the set on a four-point run to win the set and the match.
           
Lockley led the Cardinals in the match with 22 kills and a .315 attacking percentage while also contributing with 10 digs to complete the double-double.  Hall also had a fantastic match with 17 kills and a .314 attacking percentage.  Shaina Garza (San Antonio/Warren HS) had a big match for UIW with 13 kills, no attack errors and a team high 23 digs.  Kaitlyn Brooks (Sugar Land/Fort Bend Austin HS) led the Cardinals in assists with 34 and she also had 14 digs while Taylor McClelland (Cypress/Cypress Ranch HS) added 28 assists and 11 digs.  Reifsteck was the Cardinals' best defender with 23 digs.  As a team, UIW had 77 kills with a .289 attacking percentage.
           
The Cardinals will return to action on Saturday as they host Abilene Christian with a 2:00 p.m. start time in the McDermott Center.    
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