Sophomore setter Kelsey Schwirtlich's 59 assists were the most by a Roadrunner in three seasons.
HOUSTON — UTSA began its 28th season of play in dramatic fashion, as it not only rallied from a 2-0 deficit, but the Roadrunners also fought off nine match points for a come-from-behind 18-25, 21-25, 34-32, 25-17, 20-18 victory against Mississippi in the opener of this weekend's Rice Invitational.
Sophomore Whitney Walls led a quartet of players in double figures with 17 kills and she hit .395 in her 38 attacks, while senior Kendra Rowland added 15 winners on 60 swings. Sophomore Brittney Malloy racked up a career-high 13 (.320 pct.) and junior Elise Huskey chipped in with 11.
Meanwhile, sophomore setter Kelsey Schwirtlich was outstanding in her first career contest quarterbacking the offense. The Corpus Christi native handed out 59 assists, the program's highest total in nearly three years (64/Rebecca Hrapmann/Sept. 1, 2007).
"This was a great way to start the season," ninth-year head coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff said after the victory. "I'm so proud of how the girls fought back and they never gave up. Ole Miss really took it to us in the first two sets and we easily could have folded after each of the four match points in the third set and the other five in the fifth, but we didn't and that's a testament to this group and how badly they wanted to open the year with a win. I'm really excited to see how they respond tomorrow against Rice and (Texas) Tech."
The Rebels (0-1) hit a combined .260 while limiting UTSA (1-0) to just a .088 percentage, en route consecutive victories to open the match.
The third set, which featured 24 ties and 11 lead changes, was a doozy.
The Roadrunners used a 15-7 run following a timeout midway through the frame to take a 22-17 lead and they appeared to be on their way to pushing the tilt to a fourth stanza.
However, Ole Miss scored five points in a row to knot the set at 22 and it went on to stave off a set point by the Birds at 24-23. The Rebels then had a pair of chances to finish off the sweep at 25-24 and again two points later (26-25), but UTSA was up for the challenge. It had two more chances to extend the match at 27-26 and 28-27, but Mississippi hung tough and had two more opportunities to end things. The Roadrunners once again fought off elimination and it wasn't until the seventh set point that they forced a fourth frame.
UTSA broke open a 9-all fourth stanza with an 11-4 run and the match went to a deciding fifth set.
The Roadrunners took control early, racing out to an 8-3 lead, but the Rebels once again clawed their way back, this time to the tune of a 10-4 stretch, which gave Ole Miss a 13-12 advantage. After UTSA tied things up at 13, Mississippi scored for its first of five match points in an eight-point stretch, but the Birds fought all five off and senior Briana Mason's block of Emily Kvitle clinched the thrilling victory.
Defense keyed the Roadrunners' comeback, as UTSA not only collected 83 digs in the match, but it also held the Rebels to a .128 hitting percentage in the final three sets.
Junior Kelsey Jewasko racked up 27 digs, the second-best total of her career, to lead four players in double figures. Huskey added 14, while Schwirtlich and Rowland had 11 and 10, respectively. Malloy, meanwhile, added a pair of block solos and two block assists at the net.
Allegra Wells led Ole Miss with 16 kills and Whitney Craven added 24 digs.
All told, there were a total of 53 ties and 21 lead changes in the contest.
UTSA concludes play at this weekend's season-opening event with a pair of matches on Saturday. The Birds will take on tournament host Rice at 12:30 p.m. and Texas Tech four-and-a-half hours later. The Owls swept the Red Raiders in Friday's second contest.