Photo Gallery
HOUSTON – Punching its ticket to the NCAA Tournament with the league's automatic bid for the second consecutive season, the top-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's volleyball program successfully defended its Southland Conference Tournament crown with a 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 24-26, 25-21) win over third-seeded McNeese in the finals Sunday at Sharp Gym.
With the victory over the Cowgirls (18-11, 9-5 SLC), the Islanders (19-9, 13-1 SLC) won their seventh championship and fourth conference tournament crown in program history. They'll be making their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance and second in a row.
"This team is so amazing and really handles stressful situations with such poise and confidence. I couldn't be more proud of them right now," said head coach
Steve Greene.
After the match, junior
Carissa Barnes was tabbed the SLC Tournament MVP. She was one of three A&M-Corpus Christi student-athletes named to the All-Tournament team along with senior
Rachel Young and freshman
Kyndal Payne.
A&M-Corpus Christi spread the ball around and finished with three student-athletes in double-figures for kills. Junior
Faith Panhans, the SLC Player and Setter of the Year, dished out 39 assists.
"Faith had an amazing match today. She just really helped out our team and put us in a position to win. She continues to prove herself as an outstanding setter and team leader," Greene said.
Payne ended with a match-high 16 kills, six digs and a .324 hitting percentage. Senior
Julia Carter tallied 12 kills and senior
Montez Uigaese, an All-Conference Second-Team honoree, submitted 10.
On defense, Barnes dug up a team-high 14 attacks. She is the back-to-back SLC Libero of the Year winner and leads the nation in digs per set.
The Islanders got off to a very fast start and led 9-1 after a kill by Carter. From there, the Cowgirls slowly chipped away at the deficit and got it down to 18-15. McNeese tied it 18-18 and it remained tied 20-20 until a kill by Payne. The Islanders went up 24-21 after an error before the Cowgirls fended off two set points, but A&M-Corpus Christi put it away 25-23 on another kill by Payne.
The second set was very similar to the first as the Islanders started in front 9-3 after a spike by Young. Though this time, A&M-Corpus Christi didn't surrender the lead the rest of the way and went up 18-10 after a 4-0 run. The set ended 25-19 on a kill by freshman
Leah Stolfus.
The Islanders fell behind 10-7 in the third before coming back to even it 13-13 on an ace by Barnes. A&M-Corpus Christi was close to finishing the deal with a 20-16 lead, but the Cowgirls didn't go down easily. The Islanders had a match point up 24-23 after a block assist by Stolfus and Uigaese, but McNeese survived to win the next three points and the set.
A&M-Corpus Christi build a 12-5 lead in the third after a kill by Stolfus. For the second straight set, the Islanders were up 20-16 after a block by Payne. A kill by Carter setup match point, and a kill by Uigaese ended the tournament.
Greene reached a career milestone as he won his 100th match as head coach. He is now 100-69 overall and 68-22 SLC.
The Islanders improved to 14-6 all-time in the conference tournament and have never lost an SLC Tournament match to any school still in the conference. A&M-Corpus Christi is now 8-0 all-time as the No. 1 seed.
The Islanders will now await their destination for the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Selection Show will take place Sunday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m. (CT) when the bracket will be announced.
Stay Social
For more information on Islanders Volleyball, follow the team on Twitter (
@IslandersVB), Instagram (
@islandersvb) and like their Facebook page (
Islanders Volleyball).
#ShakasUp
