Starkville, Miss. - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball
team had a rough match to conclude play at the Mississippi State
Maroon Classic, losing 3-0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-17) against Austin
Peay.
The loss drops the Islanders to 1-3 on the season while the Lady
Govs move to 3-1 on the year. The Islanders picked up their lone
victory by a 3-2 score over UALR in the second match on Friday
evening.
Emma
Ridley finished with 11 kills in the match and recorded
double-digit kills in each of the four contests at the tournament.
For her play, she was named to the all-tournament team.
"Emma played very well this weekend," said head coach Tony
Graystone. "Everybody had moments, but collectively we have to
get better.
"I think we will make some rapid improvements after getting back
to work this week."
In the first set, the two teams played to a 5-5 tie before the
Lady Govs went on a 8-to-2 run to take a 13-7 advantage. Austin
Peay would hold the lead the rest of the way as the Islanders were
unable to get any closer than two points at 24-22. Ridley paced
the Islanders with five kills in the set with Brooke
Alverson adding three.
In the second set, the Islanders were never able to gain
traction, falling behind by a 20-10 score before the Lady Govs
finished the set with a 25-12 final.
Set three started very similar as the Islanders trailed 24-12
before reeling off five-straight points on Austin Peay errors
before they were able to close out the match with a 25-17
final.
Ridley led the team offensively with 11 kills, her fourth
double-digit kills match in as many opportunities this season.
Alverson and Amanda
Lowe were second on the team with four kills each. Ridley also
led the team defensively with 14 digs for her first double-double
of the year. Micah
Nolan was second with 10 on the night. Logen
Bourque led all Islanders in assists with 17.
With so many freshmen on the team, the team did a good job of
staying fresh throughout the two day tournament.
"We handled it pretty well," said Graystone. "Toward the end of
the weekend we started to fatigue, but the girls we put in there to
replace them did a good job.
"We did a little better than I thought we would this first
weekend."
The Islanders will be in action again next weekend when they
take part in the Northern Arizona Fiesta Bowl Tournament. It will
be will be played in Flagstaff, Ariz., and will be hosted by
Northern Arizona.
