SAN ANTONIO -- The University of the Incarnate Word volleyball team has won six of its last seven games and four straight overall to earn an opportunity to make its Division I postseason debut. That opportunity comes Saturday at noon CT against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
A win, and the Cardinals will represent UIW at the Southland Conference volleyball tournament next weekend in Natchitoches, La (Nov. 16-18).
 
This is the second meeting between the UIW and AMCC. The Islanders won in Corpus Christi, 3-1, last month (Oct. 4).

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LAST TIME OUT

• Freshman outside hitter Bethany Clapp earned her seventh double-double of the season with a team-leading 19 kills and 15 digs.
• With those 19 kills, Clapp set her season total to 313, the most kills by a freshman since UIW joined DI.
• Sophomore outside hitter Julia Monday enjoyed an astoundingly clutch performance, hitting nine of her season-high 19 kills in the fifth set.
• She posted a .900 attack percentage in the final frame.
• Freshman middle blocker Carissa McGarity was a boisterous blocker all night, finishing with five, including two critical blocks with junior middle blocker Allison Waits in the fourth set.
• Waits also finished with five blocks, a career-high.
• Freshman setter Pilar Gonzaba was her usual self in the fourth and fifth sets, running the offense beautifully on her way to 43 assists.
• It was her third 40+ assists performance of the season and first since she set her career-high (54) against ACU (Sept. 29).
• Sophomore libero Madelynn Miller led the team with 25 digs. She was all over the court in the first set, where she earned nine of her 25 total digs.
• This was UIW's fourth win in a row and sixth in its last seven matches.

 
LAST TIME vs. AMCC

• Clapp led the team with 16 kills on a team-best .361 hitting, her best attacking percentage in an SLC match this season.
• She has now delivered 10 or more kills in each of her last eight matches.
• She also led the team with three aces and nine digs.
• Gonzaba contributed 33 assists, her third straight match with 30-or-more assists.
• McGarity led the team with four blocks. She averages just over 1.0 blocks per set in conference play.
• She also added seven kills on .333 hitting.
• Miller had nine digs as well, to lead the team with Clapp.

 
POSTSEASON PUSH

• After opening conference play with a 2-7 record, UIW has won five of its last six conference matches to put itself in position to make its first ever Southland Conference tournament.
• In the run, Clapp leads the team with 108 kills (an average of four per set).
• On top of those kills, she's earned 65 digs and 13 blocks over the course of her last six conference matches.
• Monday is second on the team, with 93 kills (3.44 kills per set). An improvement of nearly one whole kill per set over her rate prior to the run (2.47 kills per set).
• Miller has been a rock on defense, posting 119 digs (4.4 digs per set).
• Slaughter has stepped up in her senior season to lead the team in blocks during the stretch. She has repelled 20 attacks over her last six matches.

 
SCOUTING AMCC

• The Islanders enter play with the same conference record as UIW (7-8).
• They are coming off a loss to HBU from Tuesday (Nov. 6), the team whom UIW defeated here on Thursday (Nov. 8).
• They are led by a pair of attackers, Rachel Young (231 kills) and Chloe Simon (223 kills).

UP NEXT
With a win, the Cardinals will advance to their first-ever Southland Conference tournament. It will be the Division I postseason debut for UIW volleyball. The first round of matches is set for Nov. 16. A more exact schedule will be released when the seeds are determined upon the conclusion of Saturday's match.
 

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