CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – After a sluggish start saw Houston Baptist take the opening set, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi stormed back behind Ivy Baresh and Morgan Carlson to extend its winning streak to 15 matches with a 23-25, 25-21, 25-12, 25-15 victory.
Baresh was the Islanders early offense, leading the blue and green from down 6-1 in the first all the way back to 23-24. The senior had nine of her 17 kills in the first set. After the Islanders (25-4, 13-0) spread the ball around the court in the second set, it was Carlson's turn to take over after the break. The junior ripped 11 kills over the final two sets, helping the Islanders to a pair of dominating victories in the third and fourth set.
It wasn't an easy night by any standards, but the Islanders found a way to break out of their early funk and earn another hard-fought victory.
"We were really fighting ourselves the first 10 points of the match," said head coach Tony Graystone. "Our third touch was uncharacteristically bad and we were giving away a lot of points. Once we started to clean things up, we got a lot better. Even though we didn't win that first set, to rally back and make it very tight at the end really gave us some momentum.
"Once we took the second set, we found our groove. Then in the final two sets, our defense just locked them down and we were able to put the match away."
THE TURNING POINT
After falling behind 6-1 to open the match, the Islanders pulled within a single point multiple times in the first set, but the Huskies (15-13, 7-6) always had an answer. Trailing 24-20, the blue and green managed to pull back to 24-23 thanks to an emotional point.
After a drive from Houston Baptist deflected off Shayla Maldonado and towards the back wall, Kate Klepetka hit the floor to keep the ball alive for the Islanders. A&M-Corpus Christi was able to knock the ball over the net to continue the point before Baresh nailed home her ninth kill of the set.
The Islanders didn't complete the comeback, but the momentum flipped on the wild point.
LOCKING DOWN
After the Huskies hit .316 in the first set, the Islanders' streak of 14-straight matches holding opponents to sub-.200 hitting percentages looked in grave danger. Never fear, however, as the blue and green buckled down over the final three sets to extend the streak to an impressive 15 matches.
• The Islanders never allowed the Huskies to hit above .150 in any of the remaining three sets.
• A&M-Corpus Christi smothered the Huskies attack in the third set, forcing nine errors while only allowing six kills. HBU hit negative-.100 in the third frame.
• Coming in with the fourth best opponent hitting percentage in the nation, the Islanders will improve on that mark after silencing the HBU attack to a .124 clip.
• Four Islanders had double-digit blocks, led by Klepetka at 22. The sophomore also surpassed the 1,000 dig mark for her career.
COMING TOGETHER AND CARLSON'S BIG DAY
After the challenging first set and obvious frustrations early on, the Islanders flipped the game by banding together according to Carlson.
"It was just a little rough at the beginning," said the junior. "We were getting on each other a little bit in the early going. Once we pulled things back, though, we really came together as a team and got our game rolling."
• Carlson's 15 kills are the most for the junior on the season and her highest output since a 21 kill performance her freshman year.
• Carlson attributed a big part of her success to Islanders setter, Nicholson, who had 48 assists on the evening.
"I think it was just Kristyn lobbing them up perfectly for me," said Carlson. "Then my teammates in the middle got going so I had a few splits in the block."
SOUTHLAND SHOWDOWN
The Islanders will get a couple of extra days off as they prepare for Senior Day on Saturday. The extra rest couldn't come at a better time as the blue and green will welcome second place Central Arkansas to the Island for a 1 p.m. first serve. A&M-Corpus Christi can clinch the Southland Conference regular season title with a victory over the Sugar Bears.
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.
