NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Carissa Barnes became the ninth Islander in program history to surpass 1,000 career digs with a 23-dig effort, but Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball finished the tournament with a 3-1 loss to host Stephen F. Austin Saturday at Shelton Gymnasium.
Needing only two digs to reach the monumental 1,000 mark, Barnes quickly achieved the feat in the first set and became the ninth Islander to reach the threshold. She paced the Islanders' defense with a 23-dig performance.
Faith Panhans added 45 assists while
Kyndal Payne once again led the attack with 16 kills.
The Islanders opened the match with a 9-2 lead to force a Ladyjack timeout, but SFA rallied back from a 12-4 deficit thanks to a 6-1 outburst to close the gap to four. A back-and-forth battle ensued before A&M-Corpus Christi strung together three-straight points to turn the tide and lead to a 25-23 first-set win.
Another tight set occurred in the second as SFA led 15-11 at the midway point before the Islanders sliced the margin to two, 20-18, courtesy of back-to-back aces from
Ella Litterell. A long rally and monster kill from
Montez Uigaese put the Islanders within one, but SFA claimed the next two to win the set and deadlock the match.
Both clubs stayed within a few points of one another as SFA maintained the narrow edge before knocking down a pair of kills for the 2-1 match lead.
After a Panhans kill tied the fourth 13-all, SFA engineered a run and fended off an Islander comeback to close out its third-straight set and signal match victory.
Panhans and Payne earned spots on the SFA All-Tournament team.
A&M-Corpus Christi heads to College Station for a Monday matchup with Texas A&M slated for 2 p.m.
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