SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of Incarnate Word volleyball team finished of the 2015 season with an exciting five set victory at Southland Conference rival Stephen F. Austin on Saturday afternoon 25-22, 21-25, 17-25, 25-16, 16-14.
It was fourth straight five-set match for the Cardinals (8-17, 6-10) who had lost the previous three. It was also the a little bit of revenge for UIW because they lost to the Ladyjacks (20-13, 11-5) in five sets at home earlier in the season.
After starting the match with a 5-2 deficit early on in the first set, the Cardinals regained their composure midway through the set on their way to a 25-22 set victory. The turning point came after UIW tied the set at 11-11, then scored two straight points to take a 13-11 advantage. After taking lead, the Cardinals would trade points with the Ladyjacks and win the first set to take a 1-0 match lead. The Cardinals had a .357 attacking percentage on 13 kills.
Unlike the first set, UIW would struggle in the next two sets. In the second set, the Cardinals had a 13-9 lead midway through, but the team could not hold on to the lead as the Ladyjacks went on a four point run late in the set, which led to a 23-20 advantage for Stephen F. Austin. The Ladyjacks would go on to win the second set 25-21 to tie the match at 1-1. The Cardinals had 14 kills as a team in the set, but they also had 13 errors which resulted in a .026 attacking percentage for the second set.
In the third set, the Ladyjacks would carry the momentum from the second set victory as the team jumped out to an early 10-5 lead. Midway through the set, Stephen F. Austin outscored the Cardinals nine points to one to take a 23-11 lead. After the big run, the Ladyjacks would cruise to a 25-17 set victory and once again the Cardinals were hampered by attack errors with eight for the set.
The Cardinals would respond to the adversity of the previous two sets and start out the fourth set with a monumental run. The Cardinals scored the set's first 14 points to take a 14-0 lead mainly due to the serving ability of
Jordan Reifsteck (Allen/Oswego East HS) who had three service aces during the run. After the big run to start the set, the Cardinals would go on to win the set 25-16 and UIW led the set from start to finish and recorded .344 attacking percentage.
In the deciding fifth set, both teams came out ready to play. After the Ladyjacks tied the set 14-14, the Cardinals were able to score two points from kills by
Autumn Lockley (Leander/Leander HS) and
Madison Williams (New Braunfels/ Canyon HS) to win the set 16-14 and the match 3-2.
Leading the UIW attack for the match was
Angelique Vidaurri (San Antonio/Southwest HS) who had a team high 14 kills with an attacking percentage of .310 to go along with eight blocks. Lockley and
Bryaunea Hall (Copperas Cove/ Copperas Cove HS) also had double digit kills with 13 and 10, respectively.
Taylor McClelland (Cypress/Cypress Ranch HS) led the team with 26 assists while
Kaitlyn Brooks (Sugar Land/Fort Bend Austin HS) added 25 assists. Reifsteck led the Cardinal defense with 17 digs while
Sarea Alexander (San Antonio/MacArthur HS). For the match, the team collected 58 kills, 57 digs and 16 blocks with a .177 attack.
Stephen F. Austin had 60 kills, 60 digs and 18.0 blocks with a .168 attack. Justice Walker led the team with 14 kills and a .478 attack while Jacque Allen had 11 blocks.
####
pr15569smm
