The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team dropped the
first match on the new home court in the Dugan Wellness Center on
Thursday night. The Islanders lost a 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-21)
match to the top team in the Southland Conference.
TAMUCC goes to 7-16 on the season and 0-8 in Southland matches
while UCA improves to a conference best 20-3 with a perfect 9-0
Southland Conference record.
Junior setter Jessica Jennett recorded her
first career double-double while junior Emma
Ridley and sophomore Jessica Korda added
double-digit kills with 14 and 10 respectively.
"I was happy with the way Jennett played tonight and Korda had
one of her best matches of the year," said head coach Tony
Graystone. "There were definitely some positive things
tonight."
In the first set, TAMUCC took the early lead while the Sugar
Bears kept it very close as there were six tie scores as the team
battled to 10-10. The one lead change of the set came when UCA
took a 11-10 advantage and refused to relinquish the lead as they
scored seven-straight points to make it 17-10. The Islanders would
score just four points the rest of the way as they lost a final of
25-14 to go down 1-0 in the match.
In the second set, UCA rushed out to a 7-1 lead as the Islanders
tried to fight their way back into it by scoring 5-of-9 points to
make it 9-6. They would cut the lead to three on multiple
occasions but could never get any closer as the Sugar Bears took a
25-17 win for a 2-0 match advantage.
After the break, the two teams returned to the court as TAMUCC
tried to make a comeback against UCA. The Islanders scored the
first point but found themselves down 8-2 just 10 points into the
match. The Sugar Bears would push the lead to as many as nine
points at 21-12. The Islanders proceeded to score 9-of-11 points
to bring the deficit to just three at 24-21 but could not get any
closer with the final score standing at 25-21.
"We came out of the intermission and seemed to relax a little
more," said Graystone. "But it was just too easy for them to score
points off their serve."
In addition to the double-double by Jennett, she added one kill
along with single kills by Sheridan
Paulus, Meagan Luber and Ariel Carlson. Victoria Sookiasian also
reached double figures as she recorded 11 digs on the night to
share the lead with Jennett.
The Islanders are back in action on Saturday afternoon as they
host the Lady Demons from Northwestern State as both teams continue
to search for their first victory in Southland Conference play.
The match is at the Dugan Wellness Center with a start time of 4
PM.
