EDINBURG, Texas – The University of the Incarnate Word volleyball team suffered a five set defeat to UT Rio Grande Valley on day one of the UTRGV tournament. The Cardinals had a solid opening set win, but their efforts were not enough to outlast the fight of the Vaqueros.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Vaqueros scored first to open up set one, but a blazer over the net by Bryaunea Hall got the Cardinals in the game and ready for action. UIW and UTRGV battled back and forth for the lead until Julia Monday made a kill to get the Cardinal attack going, leaving the Vaqueros to trail 15-8. Autumn Lockley scored the last two points for an opening set 25-16 win for UIW.

The Cardinal momentum did not carry over into set two as the team trailed UTRGV through the set. The Vaqueros scored their way to a 25-19 success over the Cardinals to tie the match 1-1.

UIW struggled to put up points early on in set three causing the squad to try and find its way from behind. An attack error made by the Cardinals allowed
UTRGV to take set three 25-21.

With an appetite to find success in set four, UIW fought its way to a 16-12 lead. The Vaqueros fired back to even out the score 16-16. The battle continued until the Cardinals shutdown the hosting team 26-24 for a set win.

The Cardinals were not able to catch up to the Vaqueros and the final set ended 15-9 in favor of UTRGV.

LEADERS

Autumn Lockley led UIW with 20 kills and nine digs while Edwards registered 14 kills and 12 digs. Madison Williams paced the team with 47 assists and also contributed seven kills. Defensively, Alexander tallied four blocks and Madelynn Miller led with 15 digs.
Bojana Mitrovic and Alexandra Ecker registered 15 and 10 kills for UTRGV respectively.

UP NEXT

The Cardinals will face Texas Southern University at 11 a.m. in the UTRGV Fieldhouse

STAY TUNED

The Cardinals are set to open conference in New Orleans, Louisiana against the Privateers. The match is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 21 at 6:30 p.m. in the Human Performance Center.

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