As the October air cools the southwest Texas heat, the UTSA volleyball team heats up. On Oct. 4 the Birds swept Louisiana Tech, and again on Oct. 6 the Roadrunners swept the University of Texas at Arlington-extending UTSA’s winning streak to two.

UTSA’s first victim was the Louisiana Tech Techsters. As the Roadrunners hit the court donning the “Dig Pink” jerseys in support of the Side-Out Foundation, which funds breast cancer research, the Birds executed a well-balanced attack.

“We’ve been playing really good. I was a little disappointed when we went out and lost to Idaho; I don’t know if it was because of the travel, but we are not going to use that as an excuse,” Coach Neugebauer-Groff said.

“We played really well as a team. We kept our focus the whole time; we served very aggressive and well,” freshman middle hitter Kylie Schott said.

The Birds had a .320 hitting percentage led by senior outside hitter Whitney Walls’ 11 kills. Junior Brandy Huskey chipped in with 11 assists, and freshman Erin Foley added 16 assists with five service aces.

UTSA dispensed a 7 – 0 run, which ended with the Roadrunners sweeping the Techsters (25-17, 25-15, 25-19).

The second victim for the Roadrunners was the UT Arlington Mavericks. The Roadrunners were led by junior outside hitter McKenzie Adams’ 11th double-double of the season: 15 digs and 11 kills.

The 18-point victory in the second panel set a UTSA record for the largest margin of victory in the rally scoring era since 2008. UTSA hit .357 percent, while holding the Mavericks to a match low .083 hitting percentage.

Junior Brandy Huskey contributed a match best 31 assists, while Whitney Walls added 10 winners. Other notable performers for the Birds were sophomore Dempsey Thornton and freshman Anne Kunes. Dempsey had four kills while Kunes recorded a match high 24 digs.

UTSA breezed through the second set after scoring 11 of the first 12 tallies. The Runners closed out the set on a 14 – 6 run.  The third set was more of a challenge for UTSA. The Mavericks started out on fire; they led 7 – 4, but the Mavericks could not hold off what the Roadrunners had in store.

The Birds went on a 13 – 0 offensive attack. In the end, the Birds were too much for the Mavericks; UTSA took the final eight of 19 points to sweep UTA (25 – 18, 25 – 7, 25 -18).

Who’s next for the Birds? UTSA plays New Mexico State in La Cruces, New Mexico on Oct. 11 in the first of four games on the road. The four-game trip will end with a match against rival Texas State on Oct. 20. UTSA’s next home game will be against Idaho at the Convocation Center on Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m.