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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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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