CONWAY, ARKANSAS – The University of the Incarnate Word volleyball team finished off the Crain Automotive Invitational with two matches on Saturday afternoon. In the first match of the day, the Cardinals (2-4) were defeated 3-0: 27-25, 25-17, 25-22 by Oral Roberts, but the team rebounded with a 3-0: 25-12, 25-13, 25-12 victory over Alcorn State.
 
In the first set of the match against Oral Roberts (4-2) the Cardinals had 14 kills as a team with a .231 attacking percentage while the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts had 19 kills and a .333 hitting percentage. Oral Roberts outlasted the Cardinals although it took extra time as the Golden Eagles went on to defeat UIW 27-25 to start the match.
           
After the first set loss, the Cardinals came out flat in the second set and could not slow down the Oral Roberts attack that was very efficient producing 11 kills and only one error. The Cardinals attack did have 11 kills although they had an attacking percentage of .185. The Golden Eagles would take the set 25-17 and take a 2-0-match lead.
 
The Cardinals needed to win the third set to continue match and they fought hard, but the team could not overcome 10 attacking errors and dropped the third set 25-22. The Golden Eagles had another efficient set with 11 kills and only four errors.
 
Bryaunea Hall (Copperas Cove, TX/ Copperas Cove) led the Cardinals with 10 kills for the match and a .571 attacking percentage. Autumn Lockley (Leander, TX/ Leander) added 11 kills with a .143 attacking percentage and also had six digs. Madison Williams (New Braunfels, TX/ Canyon) directed the UIW attack with a team high 27 assists while Shaina Garza (San Antonio, TX/ Warren) led the team with nine digs. For Oral Roberts, Laura Milos led the attack with 19 kills and a .417 attacking percentage while Shelby Cox added 13 kills with a .556 hitting percentage.
 
In the final match of the Crain Automotive Classic, the Cardinals had their best performance of the young season so far with a 3-0 victory over Alcorn State (0-4). In the first set, the Cardinals had 13 kills and a .667 attacking percentage to overpower the Braves for the opening 25-12 set victory.  
 
The second set went much like the first as the Cardinals had a very strong attack, posting 11 kills and just four errors while the Braves accumulated eight errors and just four kills. After a strong start, UIW would cruise to a 25-13 victory for the 2-0 match lead.
 
The Cardinals carried the momentum for the previous sets and attacked the Braves early on. Alcorn State once again struggled with their attack as they had six errors and only three kills. UIW finished the set with eight kills and a .312 hitting percentage on their way to a 25-12 set victory.
 
Emily Waller (Houston, TX/ Cypress Falls) led the team with eight kills and a .636 attacking percentage. Sarea Alexander (San Antonio, TX/ MacArthur) added seven kills and Lockley had six kills and three digs. Williams once again led the team with 17 assists.

The Cardinals return to action on Friday in the UIW Cardinals Classic against Prairie View A&M at 11:00 a.m. for the first home match of the season.