St. Edward's University

AUSTIN, Texas - The St. Edward's volleyball team ended its season with a loss to Incarnate Word in the Heartland Conference Tournament Friday afternoon in San Antonio, Texas, 21-30, 27-30, 23-30.

St. Edward's (16-14) fell behind early in game one, as Incarnate Word (22-9) went on a 7-0 run to start the match.  St. Edward's battled back and cut the lead to 12-9.  The Cardinals proved to be too much and easily took game one.

In game two, St. Edward's fell behind early on, but battled back to take a 18-15 lead midway through the game.  The Cardinals came back and took a 21-20 lead that they never relinquished in their game two victory.

The Hilltoppers got the upper hand in game three, with an early 12-9 lead.  This was the last lead that St. Edward's would have.  Incarnate Word controlled the game from here on out and completed the three game sweep of the Hilltoppers.

Junior Lindsey Douglas led the way for the Hilltoppers with a team-high 11 kills.  Junior Kayla Payne also contributed six kills.  Freshman Brittney Brown led the way defensively for the Hilltoppers, collecting 18 digs.  Junior Kelsey Teal chipped in 12 digs as well.  Freshman Chelsea Barsamian earned her second double-double of the year, dishing out 29 assists and tallying 11 digs. 

Coach Sean Donahue's squad finished the season with a 16-14 overall record.  The team went 8-6 in Heartland Conference play, which was good enough for a third-place finish in the conference standings.  The Hilltoppers made great strides this season, improving on a sub-.500 record in 2006.  St. Edward's will only lose three letterwinners and will look to compete for the Heartland Conference Championship in 2008.