SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word volleyball team (14-9, 12-2) swept Houston Christian (6-20, 4-10) in straight sets, winning both matches in the season series while pushing their win streak to seven on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinal defense led the way once again, holding the Huskies to a .072 hitting percentage, keeping them under a .100 attack percentage in a pair of matches this week.
SET ONE: The Cardinals raced out to an 11-3 lead after a
Ashton Rogers service ace, forcing the Huskies to use an early timeout.
Victoria Hall set up Kitana Tuufuli for a kill to extend the margin to 10, 15-5, at the media timeout before two more kills by Tuufuli off passes from
Calissa Allison opened up a 22-9 Cardinal advantage. Houston Baptist would get a couple points back before
Sofia Grimm finished off a 25-12 set-one win.
SET TWO: The Huskies turned the tables to start the set, rushing out to a 10-4 lead but errors would plague Houston Christian, allowing UIW to go on a 6-2 spurt to knot the match at 13-13. The two teams traded points back-and-forth with neither side gaining more than a one-point edge before an Allison' kill tied the score at 21-21.The Huskies won the next two points but the Cardinals responded with a Tuufuli kill to re-tie the match at 23-23. Grimm gave UIW its first match point of the set, 25-24 but an attack error kept the Huskies alive at 25-25. The Cardinals won the next point on another Allison kill before a Houston Chrsitian attack error awarded UIW the second set, 27-25.
SET THREE: A pair of Huskies attack errors put the Cardinals up 10-8 early in a tight-knit beginning to set. UIW ripped off five straight points, capped off by a
Vanessa Eregie kill to nudge the edge to 17-13. Three straight points by Houston Christian cut the margin to one, 20-19, but UIW answered with three consecutive points of its own, including a
Teddy-Raye Ewers kill, to close in on winning the match with a 23-20 lead. The Huskies got a kill of their own to halt the Cardinals momentum momentarily before back-to-back kills from Alliison closed out the third set, 25-20.
Notables:
● Allison recorded a triple-double, leading the time with 11 kills and 17 assists while adding 10 digs. She also led the Cardinals in hitting, swinging at a .400 clip. .
● Hall added 16 assists, marking her 13th straight match with double-digit assists.
● On the defensive end, Rogers led the team with 12 digs in just three sets. The sophomore libero has double-digit digs in every match but two this season.
● Eregie finished with five total blocks for the second straight match against the Huskies, one off her season-high of six.
The Cardinals remain home on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. when it welcomes The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to the McDermott Center
