SAN ANTONIO -- The University of the Incarnate Word volleyball team thrilled the home crowd at the McDermott Center with a 3-0 victory over Sam Houston State on Thursday evening. Freshman setter Pilar Gonzaba delivered a season-high 42 assists as the Cardinals handed SHSU its first conference loss of the season in convincing fashion.
 
NOTABLES

• Gonzaba recorded 42 assists, a new season high.
• She also recorded nine digs in a stellar defensive effort, matching a season high. She has now earned nine digs in four matches this season, including each of her last two.
• Freshman outside hitter Bethany Clapp continued her torrid stretch as of late. She finished with 18 kills, matching a season and career high, originally set against EWU (9/15).
• Clapp also added six digs and three blocks.
• Clapp has now recorded 151 kills this season, becoming the first freshman to have eclipsed the 150-kill plateau since senior outside hitter Autumn Lockley.
• Speaking of Lockley, she made her SLC debut to the tune of 13 kills on .385 hitting, a season-best percentage for her.
• Sophomore outside hitter Julia Monday delivered another admirable performance, collecting nine kills and two aces.
• Senior outside hitter Maddie Slaughter led the team with .500 hitting and six kills. She also added two solo blocks, including a critical block to tie the score at 23-23 in the third set.
• Freshman middle blocker Carissa McGarity turned in a season-defining effort on the front line, getting five blocks for the first time in conference play and just the second time all year (also @UTRGV 9/4).
• Sophomore libero Madelynn Miller finished with 15 digs and helped hold SHSU to just .139 hitting throughout the evening.
• As a team, UIW hit .297 tonight, its best attacking percentage in an SLC match since Oct. 22, 2016 (vs. New Orleans - .352).

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET 1 (25-19) | The Cardinals got off to a quick, 8-3 start thanks to a trio of kills from Lockley. When the Bearkats responded to cut the lead to one, 14-13, it was Lockley again who ratcheted up her attacking play to reclaim the momentum, collecting three more kills and eventually a block, with McGarity, to clinch the opening set. Lockley led the team with six kills, while Gonzaba registered 10 assists and a critical ace. The Cardinal defense was stellar throughout the set, holding SHSU's offense to just .028 hitting. Miller and Gonzaba each finished the set with four kills, while McGarity added two blocks.
 
SET 2 (25-18) | The second set was thoroughly dominated by Clapp. Early on, UIW held an 8-5 advantage, but then Clapp delivered three straight kills and the Cardinal lead swelled. Gonzaba facilitated the offense beautifully, amassing 17 assists to allow Clapp, Lockley, Monday, Slaughter and McGarity to register multiple kills each. Still, the story remained Clapp. She finished with nine kills in the set, a new season best for a single set, including the set winner as UIW took a 2-0 match lead.
 
SET 3 (27-25) | SHSU came out firing in the third set, getting out to a 9-4 advantage. A 6-1 run from UIW quickly tied the score 10-10, thanks to the continued success of Lockley and Clapp. The Bearkats responded with a run of their own, but UIW stifled it again to tie the score at 18-18. From there, both teams traded points, with SHSU leading all the while. Eventually, the Bearkats earned a match point, 24-23, but UIW answered the call with a kill from Monday to tie the set and deny SHSU. She followed the kill with an ace to give UIW its first set lead since the score was 2-1. The initial match point was denied, but on the second match point, Clapp notched her 18th kill to give UIW its second conference victory of the season and the second straight over SHSU.
 
HEAR FROM COACH SAMANTHA DABBS
"What a great win! We stuck to our game plan, we stayed calm and composed throughout some long rallies and got the win. I'm so proud of my team for their effort tonight. They showed a lot of composure and delivered in key moments. Sam Houston are a great team, they played well. They're a big team, but we executed the game plan that we came up with from watching film. Our younger players are starting to understand that if they play this way every single time, we'll come out winning."
  
UP NEXT
The Cardinals complete a stretch of five matches in nine days on Saturday against Abilene Christian (2 p.m.). From there, UIW will enjoy a few days of rest before going back out onto the road to face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Oct. 4 (6:30 p.m.).
 
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