The two top contenders in the Heartland Conference got together Friday night at Incarnate Word and the statistics showed little differences other than Western New Mexico (19-4, 6-1 HC) won the match in three straight games.

Incarnate Word (13-12, 6-1 HC) went into the match at a perfect 6-0 in Heartland play while the Mustangs were right behind at 5-1. Now they are even atop the standings and will break the tie at 11 a.m. Saturday when they play again in the McDermott Center.

All of these matches are important for seedings purposes in the upcoming Heartland championship tournament set for mid-November in Austin.

In the Friday match, statistics showed the match to be somewhat even despite the WNMU sweep. In fact, Western won the three games by a total of only 12 points. The Mustangs had a slight advantage in hitting percentage, .136 to .126 for UIW. They had 46 kills to 37, and they had more assists (44-37). Compared to many matches, those are not overwhelming numbers.

Outside Stephanie Higgins (Biggsville, IL/) was the leader with 19 successful hits for Western New Mexico. On the UIW side, freshman outside Kim Kvapil came up big with a team high 13 kills and a match-best .385 hitting percentage.

Match Summary
WNMU: Kills, Stephanie Higgins (Biggsville, IL/) 19; Assists, Courtney Heiser (Tempe, AZ/Marcos de Niza High School) 36; Aces, Jessica Lindgren (Albuquerque, NM/Cibola High School) 2; Digs, Meghan Watson (Kailua, HI/Kailua High School) 17; Blocks 0.
UIW: Kills, Kim Kvapil 13; Assists, Jackie Napoles 31; Aces, Amy Silva, Brandie Garcia, Kari Chapman, Samantha Jacoby 1; Digs, Hannah Werchan 18; Blocks, Kari Chapman 4.

RECORDS: WNMU 19-4 (6-1) UIW 13-12 (6-1)