UAFS began its defense of its regular-season Heartland Conference volleyball championship with a sweep of the Dallas Baptist Patriots on Thursday night at The Burg Center in Dallas, Texas.

The Lady Lions won the match 25-16, 25-22, 25-16 to improve to 18-2 all-time against the Patriots, which lost their sixth match in a row this season.

It was the first match of a two-match conference road trip for the Lady Lions (10-7, 1-0), who will play the St. Edward's Hilltoppers at noon on Saturday at the Recreation and Convocation Center in Austin, Texas.

UAFS dominated defensively, holding Dallas Baptist (7-11, 0-1) to a paltry 0.046 hitting percentage with 33 kills on 131 attempts with 27 errors. No Patriot collected double-digit kills, and sophomore outside hitter Brooke Clark led the team with nine kills.

Junior setter Strealy Sizelove and senior setter Merci Perry had 16 and 12 assists, respectively, and Clark and senior libero Lauren Nicks served each served one of the Patriots' two aces.

The Lady Lions had nine total team blocks. Senior middle hitter Debra Rogers had one solo block and three block assists, while junior outside hitter Anna Demmer had two solo blocks. UAFS had 55 digs with freshman libero Pilar Onstad, who was this week's Conference Defensive Player of the Week, accounting for 14 digs.

UAFS hit at a 0.169 clip with 34 kills on 124 with 13 errors. Rogers, who was this week's Conference Offensive Player of the Week, had 10 kills to lead an otherwise balanced UAFS attack.

Sophomore setter Laryssa Correa and freshman setter Taylor Stoops, who was this week's Conference Setter of the Week, had 17 and 11 assists, respectively. Onstad served four of the Lady Lions' seven aces.

Dallas Baptist had six total team blocks. Senior middle hitter Katie Nicholson had two solo blocks and one block assist. The Patriots collected 63 digs with Nicks accounting for 18 digs.