| Freshman Kelsey Jewasko had a match-high 19 digs on Thursday night |
NATCHITOCHES, La. ? Sophomore outside hitter Kendra Rowland recorded her third double-double in the last four matches and UTSA picked up its 13th win in the last 15 contests with a 25-20, 25-22, 25-19 victory at Northwestern State on Thursday night.
Rowland had a match-high 13 kills to go along with 11 digs to lead the Roadrunners (14-8, 6-2 SLC) to their third Southland Conference victory in the last eight days.
After dropping the match’s first point, UTSA reeled off six in a row to take a 6-1 lead. The Lady Demons (7-12, 2-7 SLC) then responded with a 5-0 run that tied things up and they reclaimed the advantage at 10-9 and stretched it to two at 18-16. However, the Birds responded with a 9-2 stretch to win the first set for the ninth time in their last 11 contests. Rowland led the way with six kills and the Roadrunners racked up five block solos in the frame.
UTSA scored three of the first four points to open the following stanza, but Northwestern State rallied with an 8-1 run to build a five-point cushion. The Roadrunners slowly chipped away at the lead and regained the advantage late at 21-20. UTSA closed out the set with a 5-2 run to take a commanding 2-0 edge into the locker room.
The Roadrunners jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the final set and never looked back, as they recorded their fourth sweep of the season and 27th win in 30 all-time meetings with the Lady Demons.
Freshman libero Kelsey Jewasko led UTSA with a match-best 19 digs, her 20th match of the year in double figures, and freshman outside hitter Elise Huskey and junior middle hitter Stefanie Robbins both collected a career-best three block solos.
Taylor Deering and Yelena Enwere led Northwestern State with 10 kills apiece and Zanny Castillo collected 17 digs.
UTSA is back in action on Saturday when it plays a noon contest at Central Arkansas (14-6, 6-3 SLC).