SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Since it got into Southland Conference play, the Lamar University volleyball squad has seemingly had a knack for the dramatics, and Thursday night proved no different. Not only did the Cardinal Showdown go to five sets, but it took both teams creeping into the 30s of the fourth set to decide it.
 
Incarnate Word ended up taking the 3-2 (20-25, 25-15, 21-25, 32-30, 15-13) win over Lamar University Thursday night at the McDermott Convocation Center in Southland Conference action.
 
Lamar (3-15, 3-3 Southland Conference) has been to five sets in five of its six conference matches this season. Incarnate Word (6-13, 2-5) held a 22-19 lead down 2-1 in the fourth set, but Big Red slid back into it on an attack error from UIW's Maddie Slaughter and a kill from senior outside hitter Chelsea Grant.
 
Grant's kill made it 22-21, but UIW took another two-point advantage on a kill from Shaina Garza. Tomar Thomas put down a kill that drew it back to 23-22 and an error from Garza tied the set at 23-all. LU eventually took a lead at 25-24 on an attack error from Bryaunea Hall, but UIW tied it right back. That was the last lead that Big Red held in the set.
 
Down 30-29, Grant uncorked a kill that tied it, but a service error and block by Cameron Taylor gave UIW the set and tied the match at 2-2.
 
In the fifth set, LU build a three-point advantage at the side-switch, but UIW rattled off a four-point run that tied it at 9-9. A block from Kelly Hope, Hall and Autumn Lockley gave UIW a 10-9 lead, but Grant tied it with a kill. Back-to-back service errors from each team kept it tied at 11-11, and Lockley gave UIW a 12-11 lead with a kill.
 
Thomas tied it at 12-12, but Lockley prevailed again with another kill to make it 13-12. Just like in the point before, LU was able to tie it with a Thomas kill. From there, a block from Serea Alexander and Emily Waller made it 14-13 and an attack error from LU ended the match.
 
Lamar tallied its highest point total (84) and kills on the year (65), but 32 attack errors was just too much to overcome. As a team, LU hit for a .195 attack average, lower than UIW's .230. Lamar delivered six service aces, but recorded 10 service errors.
 
Four Cardinals for LU registered 10 or more kills, led by Grant's 19 – her 14^th double-digit kill performance on the year. Thomas backed her up with 15, followed by 14 from Murielle Hlavac and 12 from Ivette Dim. Thomas' tally matched her career-high, which was set against Louisiana Tech in 2015. Dim's mark was her career best, and her dozen kills only came with three errors and a .429 attack mark.
 
Haley Morton continued her strong stretch with two career-highs that gave her a fourth-straight double-double. The junior notched 57 assists, back-to-back 50 assist contests, and 20 digs, which is the highest individual total on the season. Libero Carlyn Stella picked up 18 digs and Monica Stroschein tallied 11.
 
Freshman Dannisha House was a part of seven blocks in the match, leading a Lamar squad that had 13 total.
 
 Lockley (20) and Garza (19) led the match in kills and both up attack percentages higher than .300.
 
Lamar will play the final match of its quick two-contest road trip against defending SLC champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon. After, the Cardinals will play host to Abilene Christian on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in McDonald Gym.