CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A slow start buried Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a big hole and the Islanders' improbable rally fell a few points short in the fifth set as Central Arkansas hung on to advance to the Southland Conference Championship.
Chloe Simon led the Islanders with 13 kills and senior
Brittany Gilpin added another 12 in the loss.
In the end, it was the errors that proved decisive as the Islanders committed 35 miscues on the match to hit .098. The loss was the sixth of the season to a Southland opponent, five of those were five set heartbreakers like Saturday.
Haley Tippet led four Central Arkansas players in double figures with 16 kills. Savannah Allen and Samantha Anderson added 12 apiece and Abbie Harry chipped in 11 to top the Islanders.
Central Arkansas controlled the opening two sets as the Sugar Bears held the Islanders to .024 and .056 in the opening two sets. The Islanders struggled to calm nerves early, spraying 16 errors through the first two frames.
Meanwhile, UCA did enough to pull away for 25-19 and 25-20 victories and a 2-0 lead at the break.
In the third set, the Islanders rallied behind their defense. Despite committing 11 errors in the set, the Blue and Green gutted out a 26-24 frame, capped with a
Kristyn Nicholson ace to extend the match. The Islanders forced eight Sugar Bear errors and held UCA to .091 in the set.
The fourth set saw the Blue and Green catch fire offensively. After a back and forth start, the Islanders pulled away behind a .303 hitting percentage and another shutdown defensive set. The Islanders held UCA to .075 in the frame, forcing nine errors to send the match to a decisive fifth set.
Corpus Christi jumped out to an early lead, but as was the case in the first two sets, errors proved too much for the Islanders to overcome as five miscues helped UCA to the victory.
END OF AN ERA
With the loss, a historic era in Islanders volleyball comes to a close as seniors
Kristyn Nicholson,
Brittany Gilpin and
Madeleine Doud bid farewell. The trio brought the Islanders their first two Southland Conference Championships and NCAA Tournament berths in program history.
Nicholson ends her career as the all-time assists leader in program history. Gilpin finishes second all-time in kills and ranks in the top 10 all time in digs and hitting percentage. Doud ranks among the best in program history in blocks and hitting percentage as the class of seniors finishes off their stellar careers.
