Huntsville - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team
lost a five-set heartbreaker to the Sam Houston State Bearkats for
the second time this season in a 3-2 (25-11, 23-25, 19-25, 25-13,
15-12) Southland Conference match on the road.
The Islanders are now 7-19 on the season and 0-11 in Southland
Conference matches. The Bearkats have now won a season-high 11
consecutive matches and stand at 19-10 overall and 11-1 in
Southland play.
Emma
Ridley set at new Islander single-season record for kills after
adding 21 to her season total. She is now at 387 kills on the
season, shattering the old mark of 373, set during the 2002 season
by Lauren Smith.
"Emma has been our go-to player this season and I am not
surprised that she was able to do something like this," said head
coach Tony Graystone. "I am happy
for her and it is a very impressive accomplishment."
Ridley also added 10 digs to record her fifth double-double on
the season. Jessica Korda and Courtney Wypiszynski
also recorded double-doubles as Korda had 12 kills and 12 digs
while Wypiszynski had 37 assists and a career-high 14 digs. It was
Korda's first career double-double and matched her career high in
digs. Victoria Sookiasian also set
a new personal best with 29 digs. Her previous high was 15 digs,
set two matches ago against Northwestern State.
"We were doing it on both sides of the ball today, our block was
better and we dug the ball better," said Graystone. "Victoria and
Jessica Jennett played well
today, it was a good effort and just unfortunate we couldn't finish
it off."
The Islanders struggled in the first set, dropping a 25-11 final
before coming on strong in the next two to take a 2-1 advantage.
In set two, the two teams battled back-and-forth, exchanging the
lead four times while tying the score 10 times. Neither team could
get more than a two-point advantage the entire set with the final
tie coming at 19-19 after back-to-back kills by Ridley with the
team trailing 19-17. Ridley and Korda led the way with five kills
apiece as TAMUCC battled early and were able to outscore the
Bearkats 8-4 over the final 12 points to take a 25-23 win.
In the third set, the Islanders controlled the tempo while
building their lead as the set went along with the only tie coming
at 1-1. TAMUCC would grow the lead to as many as 10 points at
21-11 before finishing off the set with a 25-19 victory.
After a fourth set that saw the Islanders fall by a 25-13 final
to tie the match at 2-2, the teams faced off in a fifth and final
set as they had earlier in the year. The two teams battled to the
end as there were seven ties including the final one at 12-12. The
Islanders were never able to gain a lead however, as the Bearkats
scored the final three points to win by a 15-12 margin and send the
Islanders to a 3-2 defeat.
"We fought pretty hard today but we just came up a little bit
short," said Graystone. "They showed a lot of fight today and they
played well."
The team returns to action on Tuesday, October 3 against UTSA in
San Antonio. The match is set for a 6:30 PM start.
