LAKE CHARLES, La. – Posting a .340 hitting percentage for the match, the first-place Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's volleyball program blanked McNeese 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-22) Thursday at the Rec Complex.
The .340 clip was the second-highest of the season for A&M-Corpus Christi (12-7, 8-0 SLC), only behind a .347 tally against Northwestern State at home.
"McNeese is a talented team and they do a great job offensively. Our effort was tenacious and I absolutely love to see our team playing with that much competitive fire," said head coach
Steve Greene.
With the victory over McNeese (10-9, 4-4 SLC), A&M-Corpus Christi remained two games ahead of HBU in first-place in the Southland standings. The two teams will meet Saturday in Houston. The Islanders have won 13 consecutive SLC matches dating back to last season.
Senior
Montez Uigaese, the reigning SLC Offensive Player of the Week winner, registered a whopping .579 percentage. She and freshman
Kyndal Payne notched a match-high 12 kills apiece. Payne also dug up six attacks on defense.
"Montez had another outstanding match. Her blocking and attacking caused a really difficult matchup for our opponents," Greene said.
The Islanders dished out 45 assists as a team, which marked a season-high for a three-set match. Junior
Faith Panhans was a heavy contributor to that with 38 assists to go along with seven kills.
"Faith did an amazing job of distributing the ball and running the offense. Her maturity was really helpful during stressful points and pushed us to a big road win," Greene said.
A&M-Corpus Christi spread it around defensively and junior
Carissa Barnes led the way with 16 digs.
The Cowgirls were paced by Aryn Johnson's 10 kills.
In the first set, the Islanders played from behind. They were down 15-9 when a kill by Uigaese sparked a 6-1 run to trail 16-15. Though, the Cowgirls were able to get the lead back up to 20-15 after a spurt of their own. A&M-Corpus Christi answered with a 7-2 run to tie it 23-23, and another kill by Uigaese made it set point. The Islanders completed the comeback with an ace by Payne.
The Islanders were in control for nearly the entire second set. A kill by senior
Rachel Young gave them an early 10-6 edge and an ace by freshman
Kayla White kept them ahead 20-15. A&M-Corpus Christi won the final three points of the frame, which included a kill by freshman
Leah Stolfus on set point.
In the third, the Islanders went up 14-10 after a big spike by senior
Julia Carter. Though, the Cowgirls didn't go down easily. A&M-Corpus Christi was ahead 22-18 when McNeese reeled off four straight points to tie it. A kill by Payne ended the run, and the Islanders went on to win after a McNeese error and another spike by Payne.
A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 15-5 all-time against McNeese and have won 15 consecutive meetings.
The Islanders will conclude the weekend at HBU at 1 p.m. Saturday at Sharp Gym. A&M-Corpus Christi defeated the Huskies in a five-set thriller last weekend at the Dugan Wellness Center.
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