SAN ANTONIO- The University of the Incarnate Word women's volleyball team went 1- 1 this weekend in Louisiana. After losing a nailbiter to New Orleans (UNO) on Thursday (10/2), the Cardinals bounced back to sweep the Colonels early Saturday (10/22) morning.

UIW vs New Orleans (2-3)
In the thrilling five set match between UIW and New Orleans, the Privateers went home with a win.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead as Taylor Stoops recorded a kill to give UIW a 12-8 head start. Jacqueline Arrington then came in from the right side to put the ball far in Privateer territory for a 14-10 lead. UNO then went on a big run to force the Cardinals to play catchup. A Privateer service error began a run for UIW as the Cardinals scored five unanswered points to take the lead 20-17. UNO answered back and won the set 23-25.

The Cardinals took a dominating lead to open up the second set 7-1 after kills by Annamarie Alvarez and Risa Sena. A huge block by Kade Thomas and Alvarez during the run set the tone for the next two sets for UIW. The Cardinals took set two 25-16 and in the third, points were tossed back and forth between the two teams. When it came down to UNO having a four-point lead, 12-16, Stoops sent a perfect set to Allison Palmi for the kill, which ignited a UIW comeback to take the lead 17-16. Kyla Malone and Stoops placed back-to-back kills to take the Cardinals to match point and a ball handling error by the Privateers won the set for UIW, 25-23.

In the fourth, UIW held the lead all the way to 20-18. As the close set came down to the end, New Orleans took the momentum to win 23-25.
In a set that usually only goes to 15 points, UIW and UNO extended the set to 22. After being tied at four, the Cardinals saw their chance to take a lead. A few errors on UNO, plus Arrington came up big for a solo block and a kill to make the score 9-5. As UIW held the lead 13-9, the Privateers were not letting go. UNO tied the game at 13 and points were tossed one after the other. The game went all the way to 20-22 as UNO secured the win.

Malone played huge for the Cardinals as she set new collegiate career highs with 19 kills and five assists. Alvarez and Arrington were all around players for the Cardinals as they combined for 26 kills and seven blocks. Patton also found new season highs with 29 digs, two aces, and seven assists. Stoops accounted for 50 of UIW's 66 assists.

UIW vs Nicholls (3-0)
In their second game in two days, the Cardinals swept the Colonels of Nicholls State.

In the first, Alvarez accounted for half of the Cardinals' 12 kills as they won the set 25- 16. To take the second set, UIW took an early 4-0 lead after kills by Sena and Arrington. When the Colonels tied the match at nine, Alvarez swung hard to Nicholls' side to give the Cardinals back the lead. Back-to-back kills by Malone and Arrington started the Cardinal rise and a block from Arrington and Sena sealed the deal. As UIW led 15-9, the Colonels were forced to play catch up for the rest of the set as the Cardinals ultimately won 25-19.

Nicholls started off the third hot as they stretched out a four-point lead, 2-6, before a service error stopped the run. Thomas and Stoops set up for a block and started a big momentum shift for UIW as they took the lead 8-6. After that, there was no stopping the Cardinals' momentum. Nicholls tied it up once more, but a monster kill by Sena reignited the UIW flame. The Cardinals took the set 25-22.

The impeccable trio of Alvarez, Arrington and Sena tallied 34 of the Cardinals' 48 kills. On top of that, Arrington and Sena added four blocks to each of their stat sheets. Stoops had a double-double during the win with 33 assists and 15 digs. Thomas and Patton also made huge contributions to the Cardinals' win defensively. Thomas finished with three blocks and Patton had 13 digs.

FOLLOW ALONG
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