A full-circle moment it wasn’t. If anything, it was a huge step toward a validation of what a shared vision, determination and hard work can produce.

A year ago, against the same opponent, in a college gymnasium east of Dallas, and with much higher stakes, the University of Incarnate Word volleyball team walked away wondering if a prime opportunity was missed. The Cardinals had advanced to the semifinals of the Southland Conference postseason tournament but now had to find replacements for graduating seniors Finley Evans, Kyla Malone and Kade Thomas. Each ranked among the most productive players in program history. Returning players would have expanded roles. Newcomers would have to prove their worth immediately to compensate for the vacancies.

Before a crowd of more than 600 at the McDermott Center, the parts and narrative continued an upward trajectory as the Cardinals topped Texas-Rio Grande Valley 25-20, 25-18, 22-25, 25-16 Thursday in league play. It was their eighth straight win.

“One thing that we all really, really wanted was to be at the top of our conference,” said UIW sophomore libero Ashton Rogers, who had a team-best 15 digs. “I think we did really well tonight playing our game, knowing that we’re going to, hopefully, win on Saturday. … I think that we knew (after last season) that we’re losing some of our best players, and we needed to step up. We were like, ‘OK, we’re going to come in the season knowing that we kind of have fresh people,’ and we’re just going to start from there.”

Teddy-Raye Ewers and Lilly Roach are the most obvious of the new faces who have ascended. Ewers, a freshman who helped Southlake Carroll capture a state title in 2025, led the team with 13 kills. Roach, a redshirt freshman who didn’t start playing volleyball until her freshman year in high school, added 12. Steele High School graduate Kitana Tu’ufuli also had 12 kills. Junior setter/outside hitter Calissa Allison tallied 12 kills, 24 assists and 12 digs for her second straight triple-double and sixth on the season.

UIW (15-9, 13-2 in the SLC) remained tied with Southeastern Louisiana for first place with one match remaining. The Cardinals host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 11 a.m. Saturday, and with a win would secure no worse than a tie for the league’s regular-season title.

“Being a freshman can be difficult, but being around such an amazing team and having my teammates have my back has really helped ease the process,” Ewers said. “Volleyball’s a game of mistakes, so you can’t really let them get to you. Everyone around you is making the same mistakes you might be. Having a mindset of ‘next point, next game, whatever it is,’ really helped me to find my way on the court in a way.”

Roach’s “learning opportunity” on the college level came a year ago as she watched, listened and sought guidance from her older teammates.

“The team from last year was a really good example of what I wanted to put on the court when I got the opportunity to play,” Roach said. “I knew once I started to get more opportunities this year, I wanted to show up and show out.”

The Cardinals, likewise, did as well on a night in which they established a school record for conference wins (13) as an NCAA Division I program. In the decisive fourth set, after UT-Rio Grande Valley — which was led by former UTSA outside hitter Martina Franco’s 16 kills — pulled away late in the third set to remain in contention, UIW built an early four-point cushion and kept the Vaqueros at bay.

“I think it’s our competitiveness,” Roach said. “We always want to win, so whenever we have a setback, we kind of have a ‘next-ball’ mentality. We don’t want to settle for, ‘Oh, let’s make it in the tournament.’ We want to win the conference, we want to win the tournament, and we want to keep winning. That mindset is really big for us.”

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