Southland Play Opens Tuesday at Sam Houston State

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Following a grueling non-conference slate, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi heads to Sam Houston State to face the Bearkats in the Southland Conference opener Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m.
 
The Islanders (5-6) will carry their 19-match winning streak versus Southland opponents to Huntsville, where they escaped with a thrilling five-set win last season.  
 
FIRST SERVE

• Texas A&M-Corpus Christi opens Southland Conference play against one of two teams which took the Islanders five sets in conference last season.
 • In last season's matchup at Huntsville, the Islanders rallied from 2-1 down with a 25-19 fourth and 15-8 fifth to keep their perfect Southland season intact.
• Morgan Carlson is the lead returner from that match, knocking down 15 kills to pace the Islanders. Other key returners include Brittany Gilpin and Madeleine Doud who had eight kills apiece.
• The Islanders and Bearkats have already played four common opponents in UT Arlington, UTRGV, Texas State and Rice. The Bearkats are 2-2 in those matches while the Islanders are 4-1.
• In Southland Conference openers, the Islanders are just 3-7 all-time, but all three wins have come in the past four years.
 
SCOUTING SAM HOUSTON STATE
 
• The Bearkats enter Tuesday's matchup at 6-7 overall and have dropped three-straight to TCU, SMU and North Carolina.
• Jordyn Vaughn and Brooke White lead the Bearkats with 167 kill apiece.
• Tuesday is Sam Houston State's first home match of the year.
• The Bearkats are hitting .168 on the season, sixth-best amongst Southland Conference teams.
• Sam Houston State uses a handful of players on the back row with five different Bearkats over the century mark in digs.
 
RETURN TO THE ISLAND
 
The Blue and Green heads back inside Dugan Wellness Center for a Thursday night matchup with Abilene Christian. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m.