Women's Volleyball 11/8/2012 11:36:00 PM

Volleyball Upsets St. Edward’s, Punches Playoff Ticket

Box Score AUSTIN, Texas – Thursday night the TAMIU volleyball team pulled off the biggest upset of the season, downing favored St. Edward’s University 3-1 (25-15, 17-25, 25-23, 25-20) at the Recreation and Convocation Center in Austin.

The win over St. Edward’s guarantees the Dustdevils the fourth and final playoff spot in the upcoming Heartland Conference Tournament.

With only one conference game remaining in the season, TAMIU (7-6 HC) holds a one game lead over St. Mary’s University (6-7 HC). The Rattlers will face St. Edward’s in their final game of the season on Saturday, while the Dustdevils head north to battle Dallas Baptist. Even in the case of a TAMIU loss and a St. Mary’s win, the Dustdevils hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Rattlers and would still advance.

Sophomore Alex Ciszek had a sensational night hitting .326 for the match and racking up her eleventh double-double of the year. Ciszek finished with 17 kills and 10 digs to lead TAMIU. Daria Winckler had a game high 38 assists to go along with ten digs, in her team leading twelfth double-double of the year. Andrea Marshall also finished with a double-double, finishing with 13 kills and 12 digs.

“We played very, very tough tonight,” said Head Coach Marlon Sano. “Alex had one of her best games of the season and Daria solidified her candidacy for conference setter of the year. This was championship volleyball – we held leads, we withstood their charge, and we didn’t blink in the face of adversity.”

TAMIU kicked off the opening set with a 5-1 run, eventually pushing the lead to 7-2 on a kill by Ciszek. The Hilltoppers did their best to turn their momentum back in their favor, but the Dustdevils used three different three-point runs to extend the lead to 17-7. TAMIU maintained at least an eight-point advantage the rest of the way, taking set one 25-15.

The second frame started similarly, with TAMIU jumping out to a 5-2 lead. This time however, The Hilltoppers answered with a seven-point run to take a 9-5 lead. The Dustdevils cut the lead to three at 12-9, but once again the home team answered using a 5-1 run and a 6-1 run to extend the lead to 23-13. TAMIU scored for of the final six points, but it wasn’t enough as St. Edward’s took set to 25-17.

Set three is where the momentum of the match completely shifted in TAMIU’s favor. Leading 20-17, the Dusdevils allowed St. Edward’s to win six of the next seven points giving the Hilltoppers a 23-21 lead. Marshall, Winckler, Ciszek, and Matula each had kills on the next four consecutive points as the Dustdevils took the third set 25-23.

The fourth set was back and forth in the early moments, before Alex Ciszek took over. With TAMIU leading 14-12, the Dustdevils rattled off a 5-1 run with four kills from Ciszek to grab a 19-13 lead. St. Edward’s battled back to within two at 21-19, but TAMIU took four of the next five points to get the win 25-20 and the match.

With the win the Dustdevils improve to 15-10 overall and 7-6 in league play. TAMIU’s final conference game will be played Saturday at noon at Dallas Baptist University. The conference tournament will kick off November 16, on the campus of host and conference champion The University of Arkansas Fort Smith.

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