HOUSTON -- The University of the Incarnate Word volleyball team secured its third consecutive victory and fifth in its last six matches on Tuesday over Texas Southern.
 
NOTABLES

• Freshman Outside hitter Emily Perez hit a season high 12 kills to lead the team. It is the first double-digit kill performance of her collegiate career.
• Junior outside hitter Emily Waller put together another quality performance, posting eight kills and seven digs on .438 hitting.
• Freshman setter Kendall Kilchrist led the team in attack percentage. She hit .600 off three kills while also collecting a team-high 25 assists.
• Madelynn Miller posted double-digit kills for the eighth consecutive match. She finished tonight with 14.
• Freshman outside hitter Chloe Patton put her athletic prowess on full display, reaching 11 digs, seven kills and a block in the victory.
• Sophomore middle blocker Imani Stewart led the team with two blocks.
• This was the fourth sweep of the season for UIW.

SET BY SET

SET 1 (26-24): UIW jumped out to a 22-13 lead off some potent attacking play. Junior outside hitter Cameron Taylor got the team rolling with four early kills while Perez led the team with five kills in the set. The Lady Tigers went on a run to make it interesting, but Stewart drilled home the set-clinching kill to give UIW the lead.

SET 2 (25-23): Once more, the Cardinals got off to a hot start, 11-5. And while TSU made it close at the end again, UIW led the whole way through and earned a two-point victory. Waller and Patton paced the team with kills. They each finished with four.

SET 3 (25-23): TSU kept it much closer in the third set, prompting six lead changes. The final lead change favored the Cardinals as a three-point rally gave UIW a 19-17 advantage, which they would nurture to a two-point win. Perez closed the door with five more kills to bring her match total to 12.
   
HEAR FROM COACH DABBS
"Tonight was a great match for our team. We know how important this week is for us and tonight was a great match for some of our players who haven't seen a lot of court time. Emily Perez played outside for us and play so well out there. Imani Stewart, Allison Waits and Desiray Rodrigues did a great job for us in the middle tonight. Chloe Patton got some great experience at the pin as well. Alyssa and Madelynn did a great job running our back court and dominating our serve receive. Our team played very confident tonight even when it got close and with a completely new line up. Very proud of them!"
 
UP NEXT
The Cardinals jump back into a heated conference race as the Southland Conference season has reached its final week. UIW will host HBU on Thursday at 7 p.m. (CT) with an opportunity to clinch its first SLC tournament berth in program history. The Cardinals will then host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday (12 p.m.). Saturday is Senior Day at the McDermott Center. UIW volleyball will honor Maddie Slaughter for her contributions to the program.
 

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