CORPUS CHRISTI – Senior Brianna Brink posted her seventh double-double of the season to power the Islanders to a 3-1 victory (25-16, 19-25, 25-19, 25-23) over Northwestern State today at the Dugan Wellness Center. With the win, head coach Tony Graystone secured his 400th career victory, with 85 of those wins coming with the Islanders.
Brink recorded 19 kills and 11 digs to lead the Islanders (10-12, 3-2 SLC) while Brittany Gilpin chipped in 10 kills and Kristyn Nicholson dished out 38 assists. The Islanders' defense racked up 57 digs with Ivy Baresh leading the way with 15 digs. Hailey King added 14 and Kate Klepetka matched Brink with 11 digs.
The Islanders hit .188 as a team and the defense held the Lady Demons (7-12, 4-2 SLC) to .133 hitting. A&M - Corpus Christi also registered 10 blocks, a season-high in conference play. Kelsee Felux propelled the Islanders at the net with a career-high six blocks.
The Islanders started strong with an early 9-3 lead in the first set after putting together a 5-0 run. During the run, Baresh put down a trio of kills and the Islanders capitalized on a pair of errors by the Lady Demons. The Islanders maintained their lead the rest of the way and padded their lead to 12-8 after a kill by Gilpin, and a block assist by Felux and Nicholson. After an error by NSU at 17-14, the Islanders put together a 9-2 run to secure the match at 25-16. Brink led the Islanders with seven kills on an impressive .700 hitting percentage. The Islanders recorded a .286 hitting percentage and held the Lady Demons to .000 hitting.
NSU rallied back to even the match at 1-1 after taking the second set, 25-19. The Lady Demons jumped out to 7-4 early lead before the Islanders battled back to knot the set at 8-8 after straight kills by Gilpin. Ashley Phelps and Gilpin then teamed up for the block assist before a Lady Demons' attacking error pushed the Islanders ahead at 10-8. After going neck-and-neck NSU steadily pulled away on a 4-0 run to take the lead for good at 15-12. The Islanders kept fighting and pulled within one at 20-19 after scoring three straight before the Lady Demons closed out the set on a 5-0 run to win 25-19. The Islanders hit .206 in the set while NSU posted a .293 hitting percentage.
The Islanders came back to win the third set, 25-19, on .211 hitting, to take a 2-1 match lead. The set featured 10 ties and four lead changes. After a back-and-forth battle, the Islanders surged ahead at 17-15 after a kill by Gilpin and a block assist by Nicholson and Gilpin. The Islanders held their lead and closed out the set on a 6-1 run to win 25-19. During the run, Brink nailed two of her team-high six kills in the set.
A&M - Corpus Christi opened the fourth set on a 4-0 run and held the lead until NSU tied the set at 9-9. The Islanders however held off the Lady Demons and padded their lead to 18-14 after an ace by Gilpin. Following a timeout by NSU, the Lady Demons closed in on the Islanders with a 4-0 run to knot the set at 18-18. From there both teams went back-and-forth until Phelps tied the set at 21-21 with her ninth kill of the match. After a ball handling error by NSU and a red card awarded the Islanders a point, NSU fought back with consecutive points to tie the set for the final time at 23-23. From there, Brink racked up her 19th kill and an attacking error by the Lady Demons gave the Islanders a 25-23 win.
The Islanders will now head on the road for a pair of Southland matches at Incarnate Word and Abilene Christian. First up is a match with the Cardinals on Thursday, Oct. 16.
For all the latest on Islanders Volleyball, like the team on Facebook (IslandersVolleyball) and follow them on Twitter and Instagram (@IslandersVB).
