SAN ANTONIO – The Cardinals fought hard against the University of Texas at San Antonio on Tuesday, September 7, in a nail biter of a match falling in five sets. (2-3) This marks the second year in a row the San Antonio showdown has ended in five sets.
 
Senior Bethany Clapp (15), sophomore Annamarie Alvarez (11) and freshman Risa Sena (8) led the team in kills combining for 33 of the 46 total kills. Clapp (21) and Macy Sumrall (20) led the team in digs combining for 41 of the 82 total digs followed by Natalie Martin (10) and Natalie Kimmel (10). Nailah Landon (6), Taylor Henderson (5) and Annamarie Alvarez (5) led the team in blocks combining for 16 of the 22 total block attempts.
 
UTSA came out strong to begin the match on an 8-0 run, leaving the Cardinals in an early deficit. Alvarez led the set with four kills to bring the Cardinals within seven before the Roadrunners took the set. (25-16)
 
Set two was an all-out fight to the finish. Sena had an all-around great set with four kills and three aces. Alvarez and Henderson came out strong on the defensive end when it mattered most, combining for four total blocks in the set and slowing the Roadrunner's momentum. This set had the highest team energy which ultimately led to a Cardinal win. (29-27)
 
In the third set, the Cardinals and Roadrunners continued to exchanged points. The largest lead came with Clapp's fierce offense consisting of two kills and an ace to put the Cardinals up three and force a UTSA timeout. The Roadrunners then inched back with a quick 3-0 run to force a UIW timeout. With a couple UTSA ball handling errors and the explosive offense from Sena and Landon, the Cardinals went on a 5-0 run to tie the game. UTSA took the set 25-22 after a late offensive run the Cardinals couldn't shake.
 
UIW set the tone early in the fourth set on both sides of the ball. Clapp and Alvarez came out strong with two big kills. Followed by the defensive efforts of Henderson and Alvarez, to help the Cardinals come back from behind and take the lead. Clapp and Alvarez combined for 11 of the 17 kills from the Cardinals in the fourth set. Henderson extended the lead to 15-13 with a kill bringing a UTSA timeout. An ace from Sena solidified the momentum at the end of the set leading the Cardinals to a 25-23 win to take it to five sets.
 
In the final set of the match, the Roadrunners led early before Henderson and Alvarez's defense brought the Cardinals back in contention. The Roadrunners then went on a 6-0 run before Clapp had two aces in a row to come within two points. A kill from Sena and an error from UTSA tied the game at 11. It was a battle to the end with Sena and Clapp exchanging kills before the Roadrunners secured the match 13-15.
 
Throughout the match there was eight total lead changes and 24 total tied scores. This was truly a fight to the finish between both programs.
 
UP NEXT
The Cardinals travel to the Rio Grande Valley this weekend to compete in the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Tournament. UIW will face UTRGV on Friday, September 10 at 7 p.m. and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on Saturday, September 11 at 2 p.m.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
 
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