HOUSTON – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's volleyball program got off to a quick start but dropped a 3-1 (19-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-20) result to HBU on Saturday at Sharp Gym.
A&M-Corpus Christi (12-8, 8-1 SLC) remains in first-place by one game over HBU (16-7, 7-2 SLC).
Freshman
Kyndal Payne matched both her career-highs of 18 kills and 16 digs. It was her second double-double of the year. Junior
Faith Panhans posted her fourth double-double with 41 assists and 12 digs.
The nation's leading digger, junior
Carissa Barnes, will see her average go up after recording 27 digs.
Also in double-figures was senior
Rachel Young with 11 kills and a .455 hitting percentage. It was her sixth double-digit kill performance of the season.
"We started off playing at a really high level and doing really well offensively. HBU played well with their blocking and defensively, and as the match developed we didn't make changes as quickly as we needed to," said head coach
Steve Greene. "Rachel had a great bounce back match and really showcased her attacking skills."
Senior
Montez Uigaese, the reigning SLC Offensive Player of the Week winner, finished with six kills.
The Huskies were led by Anna Gadway and Ebonie Ballesteros who notched 11 kills apiece. Kaley Feris registered 28 digs on defense.
A&M-Corpus Christi came out of the gates hot and led 7-2 after a kill by senior
Julia Carter. After HBU cut it to 15-14, the Islanders responded with four straight points to stay ahead 19-14 on another kill by Carter. An attack by Payne ended it 25-19.
A back-and-forth second set ultimately swung the momentum of the match. The Islanders trailed 20-16 when they stormed back to even it 21-21 on a kill by Young. A spike by Payne gave A&M-Corpus Christi a set point at 24-23. Though, the Huskies were able to survive and win the next three points to take the set.
In the third, A&M-Corpus Christi trailed 12-4 when it fought back to even it 15-15 on a spike by Payne. However, HBU went on a 5-1 spurt to leap ahead 20-16. The Islanders couldn't find the run they needed in the end and the Huskies closed it out 25-21.
The fourth was knotted 13-13 when HBU created slight separation with a 16-13 edge. The Islanders came as close as 19-17 but the Huskies prevailed in the end.
A&M-Corpus Christi and HBU split the season series after the Islanders won in five sets at home. A&M-Corpus Christi is now 14-6 all-time against the Huskies and have won four of the last five.
The Islanders will return home Monday for a White Out match against UTRGV at 6:30 p.m. in the South Texas Showdown, presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union.
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