Nicholson Notches Record, Islanders Sweep

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Five matches and 15 sets. That is where Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball's winning streak stands to close the regular season as the Islanders swept Abilene Christian for a fifth consecutive sweep 25-21, 25-16, 28-26 in the Dugan Wellness Center.
 
Saturday afternoon was a day for celebration as the Islanders rolled into the number three seed in the Southland Conference Tournament, which Corpus Christi will host on November 17-19. The match also gave the Blue and Green a chance to honor setter Kristyn Nicholson, who broke the school's all-time assists record with her 25th of the day and 4,517th of her career.
 
Nicholson went on to dish out 35 assists and power the Islander attack to a .316 hitting percentage in the sweep.
 
At the pins, Madison Green and Brittany Gilpin were sharp as usual with both finishing the day with double-doubles. Green went for 11 kills without committing a single error in 27 swings. The right side added a dozen digs to earn her double-double.
 
Gilpin matched Green's 11 kills and added 17 assists to her performance. For Gilpin, it's a Southland-leading ninth double-double in league play.
 
NOTHING FALLS IN THESE WOODS
 
Libero Madison Woods rounded out a spectacular week with 21 digs in the sweep of ACU. The performance builds off her 22 digs on Thursday night when the Islanders swept Sam Houston State.
 
For the week, Woods racked up 43 digs to average better than seven per set. The two 20-plus dig matches also mark the eight and ninth time the junior has hit the mark this season.
 
HOT HITTING
 
The Islanders have found their stroke offensively, hitting .316 to make it back-to-back matches over .300. It's the first time the Blue and Green has hit .300 or better in consecutive matches this season and comes at the perfect time.
 
On Saturday, the Islanders hit a whopping .531 in the second set with 19 kills to just two errors. Five Islanders hit over .300 individually with Madeleine Doud leading the way at .455 on six kills.
 
>> Green hit .407 in Saturday's match to finish the week with 21 kills, no errors and a .457 hitting percentage.
>> Nicholson hit .353 on the day with seven kills while handing out 35 assists.
>> Madi Fitzsimmons rounded out the strong effort with seven kills while hitting .333.
 
CHASING THREE
 
With the victory and other results Saturday, the Islanders will battle for their third consecutive Southland Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament berth as the No. 3 seed. The Islanders will host the 2017 Southland Volleyball Championship and open play Friday night at 6:30 p.m.