CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Winning its sixth championship in program history and third Southland Conference regular season title, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's volleyball program secured the top seed for the conference tournament with a 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-18) sweep over UIW on Thursday at the Dugan Wellness Center.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi (17-9, 13-1 SLC) won the regular season outright after winning its last five matches. The Islanders have won 18 of their last 19 conference matches dating back to last season.
 
"I'm so happy for this team! The harder they work, the closer they get to achieving all their goals. Tonight was definitely an example of that," said head coach Steve Greene. "Such a great accomplishment for this group to win the regular season championship. I'm so thankful for the hard work of our coaching staff and our training staff."
 
Junior Faith Panhans tallied 34 digs and 10 kills (.600). It was the eighth time this year that she's posted at least a double-double as she helped the Islanders hit .357 for the match. It was the seventh time in conference (half their matches) that the Islanders hit above .300.
 
Freshman Kyndal Payne and senior Montez Uigaese were also in double-figures with 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Freshman Leah Stolfus also put-away five kills on eight swings.
 
"Leah had one of her best matches and I really love how hard she's been working lately. Montez played so well offensively and picked up a couple key balls on defense too," Greene said.
 
Reigning SLC Defensive Player of the Week winner Carissa Barnes, who entered the match leading the nation in digs per set with a 6.51 average, dug up 21 attacks defensively to increase her average.
 
UIW (11-18, 6-8 SLC) was led by Annamarie Alvarez's 10 kills and .474 hitting percentage.
 
The first set was very tight. The Islanders got out to a 15-11 lead after a kill by senior Julia Carter, but the Cardinals responded with four straight to tie it 15-15. After A&M-Corpus Christi went back up 18-16 on another kill by Carter, UIW answered with five in a row to go up 21-18. The Islanders went on a 4-1 spurt to even it 22-22 after an error by UIW. Still tied 24-24, the serving game decided it as the Cardinals hit a service error, which followed with an ace by sophomore Ella Litterell.
 
"UIW played a tough first set. In-between sets one and two, you could feel the desire start to come during the team talk. Then it came out in effort plays in both of the final sets," Greene said.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi led 10-9 in the second when it used a 5-1 run to create separation at 15-10 on the serve of senior Kylie Filipiak. UIW could never get back in it after that. A kill by Uigaese made It 21-16, and a spike by Payne ended the frame.
 
The Islanders won the first five points of the third set on the serve of Panhans and never surrendered the lead. A kill by Stolfus increased the edge to 15-6, and an ace by Barnes kept them ahead 18-9. The match ended on a kill by Panhans.
 
The Islanders improved to 15-1 all-time against UIW and have won 14 in a row.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi will now await its opponent for the conference tournament. The Islanders earned a double bye to the semifinals and will play Saturday, Nov. 20 at a time to be announced.
 
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