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EDINBURG – Redshirt junior Maria Kliefoth tied her career-high with 16 kills to lead the University of Texas-Pan American Broncs volleyball team past the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals 3-2 on Tuesday in front of an opening night crowd of 677 at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
 
At 6-3, the Broncs are off to their best start since 1997, when they also started 6-3.
 
The Broncs took the first set 25-23, and then after dropping the second set 25-13 and the third set 25-18, the Broncs won a fourth set for the first time in four tries this season, 25-19, and then took the decisive fifth set 15-12.
 
Kliefoth led the Broncs with a .538 hitting percentage after making just two errors in 26 attacks. She also had three blocks. Sophomore Haley Durham finished with 12 kills and three blocks. Senior Nycole Masaki posted a season-high 44 assists and a career-high 21 digs for the double-double.
 
Three Cardinals (3-2) finished with 12 kills, including Elizabeth Soukup, Shaina Garza and Angelique Vidaurri. Taylor McClelland had 20 assists and 20 digs for the double-double. Brittani Dear had a match-high four kills.
 
The first set featured constant back and forth action, with neither team going up by more than four. The Broncs trailed 23-22 late, but a Kliefoth kill, an attack error and a kill by freshman Anjané Janda gave the Broncs a 1-0 lead.
 
The second set was close early, as the Broncs were within 8-7 after a Kliefoth kill and 13-11 after an attack error, but the Cardinals scored four-straight points to pull away.
 
The third set was close early as well, as the Broncs and Cardinals were tied at 8-8 after an attack error, but a pair of Soukup kills sparked 6-0 run as the Cardinals again pulled away to take a 2-1 lead.
 
The Broncs jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the fourth set on a pair of kills by freshman Alisha Watson and one each by Durham, Masaki, junior Krysta Freitas and junior Diara Reynolds. The Cardinals got as close as 16-14 after back-to-back Soukup kills, but kills by Durham and Kliefoth stopped the Cardinals' rally as the Broncs tied the match at 2-2.
 
The Broncs and Cardinals were tied at 10-10 in the fifth set when Kliefoth and Watson combined for four kills to propel the Broncs to victory.
 
The Broncs are back in action on Friday at 9 a.m. when they open up the Big Daddy's Invitational at McNeese State against the University of Louisiana at Monroe.