SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Senior Brianna McCulloch marshaled a balanced attack in UTSA's sweep (25-19, 25-15, 25-19) of Middle Tennessee on Senior Day at the Convocation Center Sunday.
The Roadrunners improved to 15-10 overall and 8-4 in Conference USA, while the Blue Raiders drop to 12-15, 5-7.
After missing the last three contests, McCulloch led five Roadrunners with a .389 hitting percentage or higher. The San Antonio native hit .389 (10-3-18), moving her career kill total to 925. Classmate, Kara Teal appeared for the 100th time in a Roadrunner uniform, cashing in eight of her 12 attempts with one error for a .583 hitting percentage. Emily Pace paced Teal, playing in her 99th game.
Sophomore Kirby Smith matched McCulloch with 10 kills and added a seven digs, while sophomore notched nine kills and six digs. Freshman Bianca Ejesieme tallied seven successful attacks.
Freshman Courtney Walters handed out 21 assists, while Mia Perales dished out 17 helpers.
With the victory, UTSA are guaranteed a winning record overall and in league play for the 14th time during head coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff's 18 years. Despite competing in three different conferences over the last decade, the Roadrunners finish above .500 against league foes.
UTSA outhit Middle Tennessee .290 (14-5-31) to .276 (13-5-29) en route to the early lead. The guest committed four service errors with no aces, while the Roadrunners committed just one error and dropping in an ace.
Knotted at eight, UTSA outscored the Blue Raiders and moved out to a 19-14 edge. The teams traded the next 10 points and the home side held set point at 24-19 before Ejesieme put game one in the record books with a successful attack.
Game two provided a near carbon copy of the opener, with both sides even at six all. UTSA ran off 19 of the next 28 points, including a final 9-1 stretch and grabbing a 2-0 edge at the intermission.
Teal's service ace made it 18-14 and Middle Tennessee burnt a timeout that failed to stymie the run. After the break in action, Urte Neimantaite cut the deficit to three. Consecutive errors by the guest and back-to-back kills by Lopez and a Walters service ace pushed the Roadrunners margin out to 23-15. After another Blue Raiders miscue, Jenna Patton registered the game winner.
Middle Tennessee got off to a hot start in the third game, forcing a timeout by the home team with a 7-2 edge. A 10-4 spurt by the Roadrunners put them in the lead at 12-11 and the Blue Raiders called a timeout. The onslaught continued by the host, outscoring their opponent 13-8 the rest of the way and winning their sixth match in three sets this season.
The Roadrunners bring down the curtain on the 2019 home schedule Thursday when they clash with nationally ranked Rice at the Convocation Center. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
