UAFS picked up an important road win in a hard-fought, five-set thriller against St. Edward's on the Hilltoppers' home court earlier this season, but on Saturday, the Hilltoppers exacted a bit of revenge.

The Lady Lions volleyball team won the opening set, but it couldn't hold off the upset-minded Hilltoppers, who rallied to win in five sets at the Stubblefield Center and split the regular-season series.

St. Edward's won the match 16-25, 25-17, 21-25, 25-13, 15-5.

UAFS (16-11, 6-4) remained in third place in the Heartland Conference but now trail league leader Lubbock Christian (19-7, 9-1) by three matches and second-place St. Mary's (13-13, 7-3) by one match.

St. Edward's, which lost a surprising five-set match at Newman on Thursday night, is only one match behind UAFS in fourth place.

The Lady Lions will finish the regular-season with a 7 p.m. match at Newman on Tuesday and a 7 p.m. match on Thursday at Lubbock Christian. The top four teams will qualify for the conference tournament with the conference champion earning the right to host the tournament.

UAFS couldn't create any offensive momentum against St. Edward's. The Lady Lions hit at just a 0.086 clip with 47 kills on 209 attempts with 29 errors. Junior outside hitter Anna Demmer had 16 kills, while sophomore outside hitter Rachel Williams had 10 kills.

Freshman setter Taylor Stoops and sophomore setter Laryssa Correa had 21 and 18 assists, respectively.

St. Edward's collected nine total blocks. Senior middle hitter Mikayla Parker had five block assists, and sophomore middle hitter Laura Doocy and senior outside hitter Kate Hendrix each had one solo block and two block assists.

Senior libero Morgan Beckham had a team-high 35 digs to lead five Hilltoppers with double-digit digs.

The Hilltoppers hit at a 0.175 clip with 60 kills on 206 attempts with 24 errors. Sophomore outside hitter Melissa McNeil had 17 kills, while Parker and Doocy had 14 and 12 kills, respectively.

Freshman setter Emily Tran and senior setter Julia Hartley had 29 and 21 assists, respectively. Junior outside hitter Alexa McAndrew served four of the Hilltoppers' six aces.

UAFS had eight total team blocks. Senior middle hitter Debra Rogers had two solo blocks and five block assists. Freshman libero Pilar Onstad had a team-high 21 digs and was one of six Lady Lions with double-digit digs.