With the help of sophomore outside hitter Alexa McAndrew’s 12 kills, the St. Edward’s volleyball team won its home opener against Southern Arkansas with a 3-0 sweep with scores of 25-19; 25-13; and 25-16 on Sept. 8.

Although the Hilltoppers did not concede a set, it wasn’t an easy coast for all three. For the first two sets, St. Edward’s consistently kept a comfortable cushion, jumping out to a lead as big as 12, as indicative by the final score of the second set.

However, the third and final set seemed to lean in the Muleriders’ favor. They were giving the Hilltoppers a run for their money for most of the set, jumping out to a 13-10 lead before St. Edward’s went on a 10-0 run that Southern Arkansas simply could not recover from.

Junior outside hitter Kate Hendrix and junior libero Morgan Beckham earned All-Tournament honors at the Hilltopper Classic.

SEU Stat Leaders:

Digs: Morgan Beckham – 20; Julia Hartley – 10; Alexa McAndrew – 8

Kills: Alexa McAndrew – 12; Nicole Peters – 9; Madison McClurg – 7

Blocks: Nicole Peters – 3; Mikayla Parker – 3; Madison McClurg – 3

Hilltopper Classic Roundup:

This weekend, alongside Southern Arkansas, St. Edward’s also hosted Midwestern State, Black Hills State and UT-Permian Basin for the Hilltopper Classic.

Midwestern State finished the weekend 3-0; Black Hills State split 2-2; UTPB went 1-2; Southern Arkansas finished winless at 0-4 while St. Edward’s came out 3-1.

With the weekend in the books, St. Edward’s now improves to 6-2 for the year. The Hilltoppers have one more tournament hosted by Arkansas Tech at Russellville, Arkansas the weekend of Sept. 15.

After that, they will return back to the Hilltop to open their Heartland Conference bid with a Battle of the Saints game against St. Mary’s University on Sept. 21 for the Residence Hall Attendance Challenge – a competition between the residence halls to see who can bring the biggest spirit and show out to the game.