WACO – The UTSA volleyball team captured its first win of the season in a five-set thriller against St. John's on Friday evening at the Jason's Deli Baylor Classic. The Roadrunners calmed the Red Storm by scores of 25-23,25-22, 22-25, 20-25,15-11.
Sophomore Brianna McCulloch had a team-high 23 kills and setter Amanda Gonzales dished out a career-high 56 assists for UTSA (1-8). Marijeta Runjic and Hannah Froeschl joined McCulloch in surpassing the double-digit kill plateau with 17 and 10, respectively.
The Red Storm (7-5) were led by Julia Cast with 26 kills, followed by Kayley Wood with 12.
The Roadrunners came out firing in the opening frame building a 7-2 lead with McCulloch delivering two of her set-high six kills. St. John's weathered the initial Roadrunner advantage to tie it at 21, before UTSA claimed five of the final seven points to seize the first set, 25-21. The Birds hit .367 and got 15 assists from Gonzales.
UTSA carried its momentum into the second frame as the Runners outpaced the Red Storm with 15 kills and a .278 attack percentage. With the set knotted at 11, a kill from Kara Teal sparked a 14-11 set-clinching run for the Birds.
St. John's responded in a back-and-forth third set that featured five ties in the first 10 points. Knotted at nine, St. John's went on a 5-0 run and never relinquished the lead forcing the match into extra sets.
The Red Storm looked to be in control in the fourth stanza leading 5-1 but the Roadrunners rallied with a 14-10 run to tie the set at 15. The teams would knot the score two more times before St. John's pulled ahead for a 25-20 victory.
St. John's built a 4-1 lead to open the decisive fifth set only to see UTSA respond with a 4-0 run and take a 5-4 lead. The two teams continued to trade points as they tied the score four more times. UTSA finally turned the tide with consecutive kills from McCulloch and a service ace from Teal. Leading 11-9, the Roadrunners collected four of the last six points to secure the victory.
UTSA will move on with a doubleheader against Texas State (1 p.m.) and Baylor (7 p.m.) on Saturday.
Tweet #BirdsUp
