Women's Volleyball 9/7/2012 2:27:00 AM

Volleyball Outdueled by St. Edward's

Alex Ciszek and Paige Criss

Box Score LAREDO, TX – Thursday night the Texas A&M International University volleyball team nearly pulled off an early season upset, falling to last season’s Heartland Conference Champion’s St. Edward’s in five sets.

After taking the opening set from St. Edward's 25-11, the Hilltoppers came back winning two of the next three before closing out the fifth set with a 15-10 win.

“We stopped playing our game, it’s as simple as that,” said Head Coach Marlon Sano. “It’s something we’ve talked about since day one – we have to stay true to who we are. We started to finesse the ball as the game drew on and that played right into their hands. They are a program with pride and a winning tradition and we allowed them to believe that they could take this match from us."

Senior Daria Winckler led the Dustdevils posting her first triple-double of the season. Winckler finished with season highs in three categories including 10 kills, 41 assists, and 25 digs. Senior Andrea Marshall fired off a game high 21 kills and added 20 digs, while Sophomore Alex Ciszek kicked in 20 kills and 17 digs.

In the opening set TAMIU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead thanks to a nice serving rally by Andrea Marshall. The Hilltoppers trimmed the lead to 5-3 before the Dustdevils answered with a 7-0 run to make it a 12-3 game. Marshall would add another serving rally late in the set to give the Dustdevils the 25-11 win.

After hitting only -.026 hitting percentage in the opening set, St. Edward’s jumped up to .306 in set two, while TAMIU dropped from .256 to .083. This time it was the Hilltoppers jumping out to an early 8-3 lead before TAMIU surged to make it a one-point game. Ultimately St. Edward’s put the game out of reach utilizing a 14-4 run that included three TAMIU errors and four Hilltopper aces. St. Edwards tied the match at one set a piece winning 17-25.

In set three both teams traded points until back-to-back blocks by Winckler and newcomer Paige Criss gave TAMIU a 22-20 lead. With the game tied at 28, Marshall and Winckler combined for three of the next four points to give the Dustsdevils a 31-29 lead and a 2-1 set advantage.

TAMIU once again struggled in the fourth set hitting only .237, while everything seemed to be working for St. Edward’s. The Hilltoppers hit a match high .343 en route to a 22-25 win forcing a fifth and final set.

In the final frame, the Dustdevils never seem to get into a rhythm while St. Edward’s jumped out to a 10-6 lead. After allowing the visitors to extend their lead to 13-6, the Dustdevils managed to get within four points before The Hilltoppers put the game and the match away.

With the loss, TAMIU drops to 0-1 in conference play and 2-3 overall. The Dustdevils will be back in action on Saturday, November 8 hosting Dallas Baptist University.

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