CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team will look to carry momentum into another weekend of home conference matches, welcoming HCU Thursday night before matching up with Nicholls on Saturday both at the Dugan Wellness Center.
Thursday night will be this season's Pink Out game, presented by Radiology Associates.
The Islanders (5-16, 5-2) will square up with HCU (14-6,6-1), who currently sits atop the conference rankings, Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The Huskies record one loss in their conference-slate, dropping 3-1 to UIW (3-14, 2-5) last week. In the same week, A&M-Corpus Christi swept UIW after turning in the team's highest hitting percentage of the season. On Saturday, the Islanders will matchup with Nicholls (4-15, 1-6) at 1 p.m.
Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
The Islanders lead the conference stats in hitting percentage (.249), assists per set (13.76), kills (377, and kills per set (15.08). Sophomore
Kyndal Payne leads the league in kills at 120 for a 4.80 per set mark and points. averaging 5.24 per set. Payne is on a four-match streak of earning a double-double. Sophomore
Leah Stolfus has been the most efficient hitter for the Islanders, hitting for a .318 mark off 204 kills to rank herself second overall in the Southland.
At setter, senior
Faith Panhans and freshman
Halle Gibson have both contributed to the position. Panhans ranks in the top-10 in the conference for both hitting percentage (.281) and assists per set (8.98) as she has turned in four double-double performances this season. Gibson turned in a season-high 62 assists in a match against CSUN where she also recorded her first career double-double after picking up 10 digs. She garners 21 kills on the season.
The A&M-Corpus Christi defense has allowed the fewest opponent kills and services aces in the league, paced by senior
Carissa Barnes who averages 4.97 digs per set. Barnes totals 378 digs this season, adding to her career total of 1,949 to top the program's record of career digs. She has the third highest career per set average of a 5.54 among the entire NCAA.
Payne, Panhans and Barnes were all selected to the preseason All-Conference First-Team. The Islanders were picked as the preseason favorites to repeat as the regular season champions.
HCU currently sits atop the conference standings. The Huskies are led by Anna Gadway who records the team-high 231 kills with a .301 hitting percentage. Setter Grace McLaughlin earned an honorable mention in the Southland's offensive player of the week as she ranks second in the league overall for a 9.35 assists per set average.
Nicholls is led by Katie Jones on offense who records 166 kills for a .209 mark. The Colonels are fourth in the conference in blocks, averaging 2.25 per set, and fifth in kills per set (11.73). They are currently ninth in the conference standings.
A&M-Corpus Christi leads the all-time records over both teams, leading 14-6 over HCU and 18-1 over Nicholls. A win against the Huskies would move the Islanders into a tie for first place in the conference standings.
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