CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball program posted a lopsided 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-13) sweep over Nicholls on Thursday at the Dugan Wellness Center.
The first-place Islanders (13-9, 9-1 SLC) registered a season-high .398 hitting percentage. Senior
Montez Uigaese slammed a match-high 12 kills with a .391 mark, while senior
Rachel Young smashed 10 kills with a .556 clip. Freshman
Kyndal Payne was also in double-figures with 10 kills.
Also with a big nights were senior
Julia Carter and junior
Faith Panhans. Carter ended with seven kills, three blocks and a .500 hitting percentage, and Panhans tallied her third consecutive double-double with 38 assists and 11 digs.
"Our offense was really firing on all cylinders tonight. Faith did an amazing job of distributing the ball and putting our hitters in positions to score," said head coach
Steve Greene. "
Julia Carter had a breakout match with her attacking tonight. She blocks at such a high level and to be able to hit .500 on the outside really shows how talented she is as an attacker too."
Junior
Carissa Barnes, who entered the match leading the nation in digs per set with 6.44, will see her average go up after notching 21 digs in three sets. Freshman
Kayla White also aided the back line with nine digs.
"Carissa and Kayla played stellar defense and really controlled the tempo of the match in serve receive. They are so steady and it allows the rest of our team to just settle in and play our style of volleyball," Greene said.
Nicholls (9-12, 2-7 SLC), which was coming off back-to-back wins, was led by Aaliyah Burras who finished with 10 kills and a .474 hitting percentage.
The Islanders led 13-10 in the first set when they started to pull away. A kill from freshman
Leah Stolfus got it going and an ace by senior
Sam Dumity increased the advantage to 19-13. The frame ended on a kill by senior
Kylie Filipiak.
The second was tied 11-11 when A&M-Corpus Christi reeled off three straight to go up 14-11 on a block by Payne. Still up 20-17, the Islanders ended the set on a 5-1 spurt which included kills from Panhans, Payne and Carter.
The third was even 9-9 when the Islanders took full control. A kill Stolfus gave A&M-Corpus Christi the lead and a big spike by Uigaese increased it to 15-12. The Islanders won the final seven points of the match, which ended on an error by the Colonels.
A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 18-1 all-time against Nicholls and have won 16 in a row.
The Islanders will conclude the weekend at home Saturday at 1 p.m. against New Orleans. It will be Senior Day as A&M-Corpus Christi will have a special ceremony prior to the match to honor Carter, Dumity, Uigaese, Young and
Angel Felan.
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