Islanders In Seattle for NCAA Tournament

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Friday evening brings the second straight NCAA Tournament appearance for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as the Islanders take on the No. 8 national seed Washington at 9:30 p.m.  The opening round match will be carried on the Pac-12 Network as well as streamed on Pac-12.com/Live.
 
The Islanders (24-7) arrived in Seattle, Wash., Wednesday night in preparation for Friday's match against the Pac-12 Champion Huskies. Kentucky and Colorado State round out the four-team pod in the Pacific Northwest.
 
FIRST SERVE
• For a second consecutive season, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is headed to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles.
• The Islanders face No. 8 Washington in the opening round. The two have met just once before with the Huskies sweeping the Blue and Green back in 2000.
• A&M-Corpus Christi boasts the Southland Player of the Year and Tournament MVP in outside hitter Brittany Gilpin. In the conference final, Gilpin smashed a career-high 23 kills to lead the Islanders to their second title.
• The Islanders are making just their second trip to the NCAA Tournament in program history. In last year's tournament, the Islanders fell in three sets to No. 10 Texas A&M.
• Five Islanders were named to the All-Southland Conference teams. Four of those selections also received individual awards, the most by any school in conference history.
• No stranger to major opponents, the Islanders have played a pair of ranked foes along with four matches against teams in the AVCA Top 50 list.
 
WASHINGTON WHAT TO KNOW
 
The Pac-12 Champion Huskies have not lost to a non-conference opponent in 2016. Washington boasts junior outside Courtney Schwan who averages 3.76 kills per set and was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year Monday. Right side Chrissy Jones and setter Bailey Tanner joined Schwan on the All-Pac-12 team.
 
The Huskies have reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament in each of the past four seasons. Washington reached the Elite Eight last season before falling to eventual national champion Nebraska.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi and Washington are meeting for just the second time in program history. The first came in the inaugural year of Islanders volleyball, a 3-0 Washington win in 2000.
 
Washington ranks 20th in the country with a .269 team hitting percentage. The Huskies also throw a strong block up, sitting 16th nationally in blocks per set at 2.78.
 
NEW ROLES, NO PROBLEM

• Senior Morgan Carlson and junior Brittany Gilpin each stepped into new roles this season for the Islanders.
• For Gilpin, she moved from middle blocker where she was a First Team All-Southland performer to outside hitter. The result was the Southland Conference Player of the Year.
• Carlson meanwhile played six rotations for the first time in her career. She also served for the first time in career this season.
• Combined, the pair account for 45-percent of the Islanders' kills and 448 digs on the season.