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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – With the opportunity to lock-up the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's volleyball program will conclude the regular season Thursday at 6:30 p.m. against UIW in the Dugan Wellness Center.
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A&M-Corpus Christi (16-9, 12-1 SLC) has already clinched at least a share of the SLC regular season championship. It can clinch the title outright with either a win against UIW (11-16, 6-7 SLC) or an HBU (20-7, 11-2 SLC) loss at McNeese (15-9, 9-4 SLC).
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The Islanders are riding a four-match winning-streak and are 7-3 at home this season. They've won 17 of their last 18 conference matches dating back to last season.
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Junior
Carissa Barnes leads the nation in digs per set for the 11th consecutive week with a 6.51 average. She has more than a half dig lead on the second ranked student-athlete Jenna Story from Wright State (5.81 d/s). Barnes was named the SLC Defensive Player of the Week winner on Monday for the seventh time this season.
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In conference matches, the top three student-athletes in the SLC in hitting percentage are all on A&M-Corpus Christi. Senior
Rachel Young leads the way with a .390 mark, while senior
Montez Uigaese is right behind at .352. Junior
Faith Panhans is third at .337 and also ranks first in assists with 11.20 per set.
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Also on the offensive end is freshman
Kyndal Payne who ranks second in the league in kills with 3.57 per frame. Payne is coming off her third double-double of the year with 13 kills and 10 digs in a sweep at Northwestern State.
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The Cardinals are fighting for seeding and are currently tied for fourth with Southeastern. The third and fourth-place teams receive a first round bye at the conference tournament, while the No. 1 and 2 seeds earn a double bye.
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UIW has won three of its last four matches. On the season, Bethany Clapp leads the team and ranks third in the conference in both kills (3.25 k/s) and service aces (0.35 sa/s). Clapp, a Corpus Christi native, is a two-time All-Conference First-Team selection and was the 2018 SLC Freshman of the Year.
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The Islanders won the first meeting this year between the two teams 3-0 in San Antonio on Sept. 25. A&M-Corpus Christi is 14-1 all-time against UIW and has won 13 in a row.
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