INCARNATE WORD d. ARKANSAS / FORT SMITH
25-23, 14-25, 25-23, 28-26
Incarnate Word and Arkansas / Fort Smith went at it Saturday in volleyball and at the end of the day the Cardinals’ ability to come up with just about everything hit over the net resulted in an extremely tight win in a matchup of teams with sparkling records.
The Cardinals had a whopping 97 digs in the four-set win over the newest member of the Heartland Conference. The victory puts UIW at 22-8 on the year while UAFS is now 29-4. The Arkansas school is a provisional D-II member this year and will be a full blown Heartland competitor next year.
Defensively the Cardinals got 27 digs from junior libero Spencer Ladd while freshman outside Nikki Morfin came up with another 25. And UIW wasn’t done with the 20-plus double-double. Junior defensive specialist Mary Beth Huber had 11 while junior setter Sarah Nordman cracked double digits with 10 saves.
On senior day, and the final home match of the year, the match on offense belonged to, appropriately enough, two seniors. Outside hitter Emily Kopecki led all players with 18 kills and a percentage of .366. Middle Edie Weise, on her final home date, put away 13 balls.
Firmly in place at number two in the Heartland in advance of the post-season championship tournament, Incarnate Word will play two matches on the road to end the regular season. First up is a November 5 affair in Austin against the top team St. Edward’s.
USFS: Kills, Fabiane Nass, Heidi Luks, 12; Assists, Lucia Najselova 49; Aces, Morgan Banner 3; Digs, Keely Rivera 29; Blocks, Jettie Stec, Nass, 1.
UIW: Kills, Emily Kopecki 18; Assists, Sarah Nordman 50; Aces, Kopecki 2; Digs, Spencer Ladd 27; Blocks, Daniella Vidaurri, Edie Weise 1.
RECORDS:
UAFS 29-4
UIW 22-8