HAMMOND, La. – Everything clicked as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi dominated Southeastern Louisiana from start to finish, sweeping the Lions 25-14, 25-11, 25-17 to move to 10-0 in Southland Conference play.
On offense and defense, it was all Islanders (15-7, 10-0) as the Blue and Green hit .303 as a team while holding Southeastern Louisiana to just an .024 mark. Junior
Brittany Gilpin led the Islanders' attack with a match-high 10 kills while hitting .526. The 10 kills pushed Gilpin's season total to 265, matching her career-best set last season.
Opposite Gilpin,
Morgan Carlson was just as effective, ripping nine kills and hitting a blistering .615. The senior needed just 13 attacks to slice apart the Lion defense.
Defensively, the Islanders rebounded from a string of slightly down performances to shut down any semblance of a Lion attack. The Blue and Green racked up eight blocks as nine different players recorded a block.
Morgan Williams led the effort at the net, earning a solo block and adding a pair of assists.
"I think our defense sparked this performance," said head coach
Steve Greene. "Our offense has consistently performed well this season, but the last couple of matches our defense and blocking have been struggling a bit. Part of that is we've been trying to change up a few things and I think we made a big shift heading into today."
ACE UP THE SLEEVE
Setter
Kristyn Nicholson entered the day leading the conference in service aces. The junior only built on that lead with a monstrous seven aces at the line on Saturday.
That total was one shy of tying her career-best and a school record of eight aces in a three-set match. Nicholson now has 43 aces on the season, 14 away from the school's all-time record.
"Kris is a great server," said Greene. "It creates a situation where we get a lot of free balls because the other team is chasing. It's the aces and those easy swings which really let us get going. It's nice to have someone who can go back there and get a third of our points."
Nicholson was also pivotal in driving the offense, racking up 23 assists and adding three kills to help the Islanders hit over .300 for a second consecutive match.
RECORDS WILL FALL
While not a big day by her standards,
Kate Klepetka picked up 12 digs Saturday. The dozen digs bring Klepetka's career totals to 1,578, just six shy of the A&M-Corpus Christi record.
If Klepetka's trends hold true, Saturday versus Incarnate Word should be a record-breaker in the Dugan Wellness Center.
MAKE IT QUICK
•
Morgan Williams and
Madi Fitzsimmons each had four kills.
• Nicholson and
Madison Woods had six digs apiece while Gilpin and Carlson had five each.
WEEK TO PREPARE
The Islanders now have a full week of practice before hosting Incarnate Word next Saturday inside the Dugan Wellness Center. The match is the front-end of back-to-back duels with the Cardinals as the Islanders head to San Antonio the following Tuesday.
