SAN ANTONIO, Texas— McNeese volleyball found a way here Thursday night to come away with a 3-1 (25-16, 21-25, 25-15, 25-22) Southland Conference victory over Incarnate Word (2-9, 1-3 SLC). The Cowgirls continued their three match road swing through Texas this week after picking up a 3-1 victory over Abilene Christian Tuesday night. McNeese will travel to Corpus Christi, Texas Saturday to conclude the road trip with a 1 p.m. match against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
"Credit UIW- tonight was a tough, gritty defensive struggle," said head coach Ashleigh Fitzgerald. "It felt like they were playing with an extra person at times because they were all over the place. We somehow found a way even though we weren't firing consistently on all cylinders tonight," said Fitzgerald.
 
McNeese (11-7, 3-1 SLC) used balance attacking and were led in kills by Shanna Spree, Rae Myers and Keegan Nelms who all had nine apiece. Jenny D'Alessandro chipped in with eight and Katelyn Elliott with six. Myers ended the match with a match best .421 hitting percent with one error in 19 attempts. Spree also led the Cowgirls with four blocks. Four Cowgirls picked up double figure digs and were led by Angela McGownd's 25. Madison Fontenot was credited with 14 while Alexandra Aguilera had 13 and Nelms ended with 11. Aguilera also dished out 15 assists and Adison Giambrone was credited with 21 on the night.
 
As a team, McNeese recorded its second most service aces on the year with nine. Giambrone, Spree, Fontenot and Aguilera all had two apiece and McGownd had one.
 
With the opening set tied at 10 all, McNeese put together a string of five straight points to take a 15-10 lead. The Cowgirls took advantage of UIW errors to extend their first set lead to 18-12 before going on to pick up a 25-16 first set win.
 
The Cardinals took the early lead in the second set and never trailed on its way to a 25- second set win to even the match at one set apiece. Trailing 22-17, two straight kills by Nelms and one by Ebony Lewis brought McNeese to within two points (22-20). UIW would score three of the next four points to take the set 25-21 to even the match at one set apiece.
 
The third set started off going back and forth with both teams trading points. With the score tied at 11 all, McNeese outscored UIW 11-2 to extend its lead to 22-13. A kill by Elliott put the Cowgirls up 23-13. After two UIW points, a kill by D'Alessandro and a service ace by Fontenot gave the Cowgirls the 25-15 third set victory.
 
McNeese jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the fourth set but UIW came back to tie the set at eight all. The Cowgirls' 4-1 run behind the serve of Giambrone gave McNeese a 12-9 lead. The Cardinals would once again tie the set at 12 but another run by the Cowgirls, this time a 6-1 run gave McNeese an 18-13. A 4-0 run by UIW pulled the Cardinals to within one point (18-17) but McNeese would grind it out to win the set 25-22 and the overall match.