Volleyball Clinches at Least Share of Regular Season Title with Sweep at NSU

NATCHITOCHES, La. – Securing at least a share of the Southland Conference regular season championship, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's volleyball program posted a convincing 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-19) win over Northwestern State on Saturday at Prather Coliseum.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi (16-9, 12-1 SLC) is one victory away from winning the SLC outright and locking up the No. 1 seed. The Islanders can do so Thursday in their season finale at home against UIW at 6:30 p.m. in the Dugan Wellness Center. HBU (20-7, 11-2 SLC) is one match behind with one match to be played.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi shook off Northwestern State (10-17, 4-8 SLC) in the first set before rolling them in the second and third. Junior Faith Panhans and freshman Kyndal Payne both registered double-doubles. It was Panhans' seventh match this year with at least a double-double and Payne's third.
 
Senior Rachel Young was the team's leading attacker with 14 kills and a .520 hitting percentage. Payne was right behind with 13 kills to go along with 10 digs. Panhans helped the team hit .316 overall and tallied 41 assists and 10 digs. Freshman Leah Stolfus also turned in a big outing with a career-high eight kills (.429) and three blocks.
 
It was the sixth time in conference this year that the Islanders hit above .300.
 
"Faith and Rachel were spectacular today. They put in so much effort on every play and really pushed everyone to be at their best," said head coach Steve Greene. "Leah had a great match attacking and blocking. She's really improved a lot the last couple weeks and so happy to see her hard work paying off."
 
On the defensive end, the Islanders covered a lot of ground with four student-athletes in double-figures. The reigning SLC Defensive Player of the Week winner Carissa Barnes, who also leads the nation in digs per set, notched 25 digs. In addition to Panhans and Payne, senior Sam Dumity dug up 10 attacks.

"Our defense was really well balanced with four players in double digit-digs. I'm so pleased with how we keep improving each match," Greene said.
 
The first set was back-and-forth throughout. It was tied 18-18 when kills by Stolfus and senior Montez Uigaese sparked a 4-0 run to give the Islanders a 22-18 edge. The Lady Demons came within one at 24-23, but a quick dump by Panhans ended the frame.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi was dominant in the second. A kill by Payne gave the team an early 12-4 cushion and NSU could never get back in it. The Islanders reeled off five straight points on Dumity's serve to lead 23-12, and a smash by sophomore Ella Litterell put it away.
 
In the third, the Lady Demons led 13-12 when the Islanders answered with four straight including an ace by Barnes to go up 16-13. Still up 19-17, a kill by Young sparked a 3-0 run to nearly put it out of reach at 22-17. The match ended on an error by NSU.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi will conclude the regular season at home on Thursday against UIW at 6:30 p.m. in the Dugan Wellness Center.
 
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