Hilltoppers pull out victory over Newman, 3-1
AUSTIN, Texas - The St. Edward's volleyball team came back to beat Newman University Saturday afternoon at the Recreation and Convocation Center. The Hilltoppers won the match in four sets, 23-25, 27-25, 25-21, 25-17.
The first set was back and forth as the Hilltoppers (8-10, 5-2 HC) and Jets stayed within four points of each other. In the end, Newman capitalized on some hitting errors by the Hilltoppers and won the set on their second set point, 25-23.
St. Edward's faced more challenges in the second set as they trailed early on. Coach Sean Donahue varied his line-up and inserted freshman Lindy Luleff to change the pace from the first set. Luleff sparked the Hilltoppers' play with two kills and a powerful five blocks to shut down the Newman hitters. Fellow freshman Ashley Vander Hey contributed five kills as the Hilltoppers came back from 14-18 down to tie the set at 22-22. After exchanging some points, St. Edward's grabbed the set off a kill by freshman Leigha Whitmire, 27-25.
The Hilltoppers never slowed down after pulling out the close second set as they jumped to a 10-1 lead in the third. Even as the Jets tried to mount a counter attack, the Hilltoppers kept the pressure on as they out hit Newman .268 to .150. Vander Hey led her team with another five kills as they pulled ahead in sets for the first time in the match, winning the third 25-21.
In the fourth set, St. Edward's rode their momentum with near perfect offensive numbers. The Hilltoppers tallied ten kills with only one attack error as Whitmire led with four of her 13 kills for the match. With their easiest set of the match, the Hilltoppers finished off the Jets, 25-17 in the fourth.
The Hilltoppers also showed their medal on defense as they blocked the Jets 14 times and senior Kelsey Teal led the team with 34 digs. Vander Hey showed her diverse talent as she led the team with 14 kills, a service ace and contributed 18 digs to the defense.
The volleyball team will return to action this Tuesday as they host Bentley College in a break from Heartland Conference matches. The first-serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.