THIBODAUX, LOUISIANA – The University of Incarnate Word Volleyball team played a tough match against conference opponent Nicholls, but came away with a 3-2 loss against the Colonels 25-17, 16-25, 20-25, 26-24, 15-7 on Thursday night.

The Cardinals (7-15, 5-8) started out the match with a 25-17 first set loss. Nicholls started out the set with a 4-0 run with the help from three service aces.  The Cardinals were never able to battle back from the early deficit and they were down 21-12 at one point in the set.  However, UIW would go on a late four point run with the help from three errors by the Colonels.

In the second set, it was the Cardinals turn to jump out to an early advantage. Autumn Lockley (Leander/Leander HS) led UIW to an early 8-2 advantage.  The Cardinals would keep the lead throughout the set and a service ace from Taylor McClelland (Cypress/Cypress Ranch HS) would stretch the UIW lead to 20-13.  Nicholls would end the set with two errors to give the Cardinals a 25-16 set win.

UIW would carry the momentum from the second set and jumped out to an early lead in the third.  After a kill from Shaina Garza (San Antonio/Warren HS) the Cardinals would take a 15-7 lead.  Just when it looked as if UIW would cruise to the set victory, Nicholls battled back to make things interesting.  The Colonels had a five point run to bring the team within three points late in the going at 23-20.  However, the Cardinals would finish the set with a kill by Garza and a service ace from Angelique Vidaurri (San Antonio/Southwest HS) to give the Cardinals a 25-20 set victory and 2-1 match lead.

In the fourth set, the Cardinals had a great opportunity to win the match, but Nicholls had other plans.  The set was very close all the way up to the very end.  After a kill by Vidaurri, the Cardinals tied the match up at 24-24, but back-to-back errors gave the Colonels a 26-24 set victory and they tied the match at 2-2.  Vidaurri and Lockley led the team offensively in the set as the two combined for 10 of the team's 16 kills in the set.

In the deciding fifth set, UIW opened up the scoring with the first point, but the Colonels would go on a big run with seven straight points to take a 7-1 lead.  The Cardinals would not be able to recover from the early deficit, as they would lose the set 15-7 and the match, 3-2.

For the match, Vidaurri led the team with 13 kills and a .393 attacking percentage.  Lockley also added 13 kills, but she struggled with errors which led to a .146 attacking percentage. Kaitlyn Brooks (Sugar Land/Fort Bend Austin HS) and McClelland led the team in assists with 16 and 15, respectfully.  McClelland added four service aces.  Defensively, Jordan Reifsteck (Allen/Oswego East HS) led the Cardinals with 19 digs and McClelland and Garza each added 16 digs.  As a team, UIW had 50 kills and an attacking percentage of .094.

The team will return to action on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. with a match against McNeese State in Lake Charles, LA.
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