CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – It's hard to say a 23-4 team with a perfect Southland Conference record showed major improvement Thursday night, but that's exactly what Texas A&M-Corpus Christi did as the Islanders block had arguably its best match of the season en route to a sweep of Lamar 25-18, 25-22, 25-18.
RELATED: Box Score (xml) | Box Score (pdf) | Photo Gallery
Madeleine Doud and Kristyn Nicholson led the way at the net, combining for nine block assists as the Islanders (23-4, 11-0) defense kept the Cardinals attack grounded to the tune of a .083 hitting percentage. It was a sight that had head coach Tony Graystone beaming after the match.
"This is the first time all season we've really had our block rolling from start to finish," said Graystone. "We work so hard on it. Every day it's drill after drill just trying to get our block going. It was great to see all that work pay off and it absolutely helped us control the match.
"Lamar has some great athletes and to hold Chelsea Grant to just four kills is spectacular. Behind our block, I thought our diggers had their best night of the season as well. They were flying all over the place and just made play after play."
Naturally, it was a defensive match, with the Islanders hitting just .204 but stifling Lamar (13-11, 3-7) to an .083 clip. In its 13-match winning streak, A&M-Corpus Christi has held every opponent below the .200 mark.
BIG RALLY IN THE SECOND
After an early break went against the Islanders in the second set, the blue and green found itself down 6-1 to the Cardinals. But, there was no panic on the Islanders' side of the court as they slowly chipped their way back into the set. It was the block which paved the way for the massive rally, as the Islanders twice clawed back from five point deficits.
• Nicholson and Brittany Gilpin teamed up to reject Grant, Lamar's most potent hitter, to pull the Islanders within one at 9-8.
• After Lamar built a 13-8 lead, the Islanders climbed back level at 14-14 and then again at 16-16 as Doud and Morgan Carlson leapt on a huge block.
• Ivy Baresh would knock down kills on two of the last three points to complete the pair of big rallies and secure a 2-0 lead at the intermission.
BARESH BIG AGAIN, CARLSON COMES ON
Everyone expects seniors to step up and Baresh has yet to disappoint as the Islander rocked her way to yet another double-double. She finished the match with 13 kills and 17 digs, marking the ninth such occurrence of the season and her third double-double in the past four matches.
Baresh came out swinging with six kills in the first set, including a blast down the line to reward Klepetka who had laid out for the dig.
• Morgan Carlson finished second on the night with 10 kills for the Islanders.
• Carlson has now eclipsed double-digit kills in three Southland Conference matches.
NICHOLSON BREAKS 1K
• The Islanders sophomore setter hit the 1,000 assists mark for the season with her 25th helper of the night.
• Nicholson finished the evening with 31 assists, more than the entire Cardinals' team.
• With 1,006 assists on the season, Nicholson now sits 107 shy of her freshman season which is fourth all-time in the record books.
• Nicholson is already second in career assists with 2,119 in two seasons.
SATURDAY SHOWDOWN
The Islanders continue the homestand by welcoming Sam Houston State to the Island Saturday afternoon. First serve is set for 1 p.m. in the Dugan Wellness Center.
For more information on the Islanders volleyball team throughout the season, check them out on Twitter (@IslandersVB) and on their Facebook page (Islanders Volleyball), and download the official Islanders Front Row app for scores, updates, live stats and live video of all Islanders events.
