SAN ANTONIO, Texas—Carissa Chainey and Kayla Wilson combined for 49 kills Thursday night to lead McNeese volleyball in a 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 25-18) Southland Conference road win over Incarnate Word to improve to 6-11 overall and remained undefeated at 4-0 in conference play.  The win is the fourth straight win for the Cowgirls.  The loss drops UIW to 8-8 overall and 0-4 in the SLC.
 
"Carissa and Kayla absolutely carried us to victory tonight," said head coach Sasha Karelov.  "I am proud of the growth those two have made, especially on out of system attacks.  Kendall (Osgood) and Bailey (Tillman) were rock solid in serve receive.  This was a defensive battle and UIW made us work to earn our points.  I'm really happy with how we responded and the adjustments we made defensively after the second set.
 
Chainey and Wilson both ended the match with career high in kills.  Chainey led all players with 27 kills including 10 digs for her fourth double double of the season.  Chainey also ended the match with a .489 hitting percent with only four errors in 47 attempts.
 
Wilson ended the match with her career high 22 kills along with a .319 hitting percent.
 
Setter Emma Hendricks also produced a career high with 59 assists and Tshilanda Diouf tied her career high with seven blocks.
 
As a team, McNeese hit a season high .333 and picked up a season high 15 blocks on the night including 14 block assists.
 
UIW was led in kills with 12 apiece from Allison Palmi and Risa Sena.  The Cardinals out blocked the Cowgirls 20-15.
 
McNeese will travel to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday for a 1 p.m. match on ESPN+.
 

Set 1
• McNeese took the early lead and never let it slip away
• UIW pulled to withing two points late in the set, but the Cowgirls finished it off to win the opening set
 
Set 2
• McNeese trailed 15-10 but scored five straight points out of the media timeout behind the serve of Kendall Osgood to tie the set at 15 all
• Three ties later, UIW took a 20-18 lead on a McNeese error and an ace
• McNeese pulled to within one point several times late in the set, but the Cardinals held on for the win to even the match at one set apiece  
 
Set 3
• McNeese opened the set by taking a 5-2 lead and then led again 11-8
• With the set tied at 17, a kill by McKenzie Moore and a UIW error put the Cowgirls up 19-17
• Leading 19-18, Tshilanda Diouf accounted for two of the Cowgirls' next three point with a kill and a service ace along with a Chainey kill for a 22-18 lead
• McNeese scored six of the last seven points of the set to take a 2-1 match lead
 
Set 4
• McNeese opened the set by taking a 4-2 lead and then led again 11-7
• With the set tied at 17, McNeese outscored UIW 8-1 the rest of the day behind the serve of Emma Hendricks
 
McNEESE NOTES
• It's the fourth straight win for the Cowgirls
• McNeese remains undefeated in the SLC at 4-0
• Hit a season high .333
• Collected a season high 15 blocks
• Carissa Chainey and Kayla Wilson combined for 49 of the 68 McNeese kills
• Carissa Chainey led all players with a career high 27 kills
• Chainey also had 10 digs to go along with her 27 kills for her fourth double double this season
• Kayla Wilson recorded a career high 22 kills
• Setter Emma Hendricks dished out a career high 59 assists
• Tshilanda Diouf tied her career high with seven kills
• The second set loss is the set loss for the Cowgirls in league play this season