CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team moved up in the conference standings to a first-place tie with HCU after topping the Huskies in straight sets 25-16, 25-18, and 25-21 Thursday night at the Dugan Wellness Center.
The match was the annual Pink Night game, presented by Radiology Associates, in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. Between the second and third sets, breast cancer survivors were brought out and honored on the court.
"We love having such a great crowd come out to support Breast Cancer Awareness and offer their support," said head coach
Steve Greene.
A&M-Corpus Christi (6-16, 6-2) and HCU (14-7, 6-2) each record six victories in Southland play to both sit atop the conference standings. This was the fifth sweep for the Islanders in their conference-slate, as they outhit the Huskies .265 to .157. Sophomore
Leah Stolfus was the most efficient hitter of the match, hitting for a .440 off 13 kills to improve her season percentage to a team-high .324. Sophomore
Kyndal Payne recorded the match-high 15 kills and turned in a double-double for the fifth match in a row, picking up 12 digs.
Senior
Carissa Barnes was the match-leader in digs with 22, marking this her ninth match to record 20+ digs this season. She also led the match in service aces, adding three to the team's total of seven on the night. Junior
Ella Litterell earned two aces with Payne and senior
Faith Panhans tallying one each. Panhans also garnered 35 assists, five kills and seven digs.
"Leah was really dominant in the middle tonight. She wanted the ball and was able to score from different zones all along the net. Our serving was outstanding tonight, as we really put HCU into some tough situations with placement and power from the service line," said Greene.
HCU earned the first point of the match, but kills by Stolfus and Panhans gave the Islanders a lead that would be tied at 3-3 before a kill by Payne started a 6-0 run that was never caught. Another 6-point spurt for the Islanders extended their lead to 19-8 following a kill and an ace by Litterell. The Huskies never came within eight, as a pair of kills by freshman
Tayah Little helped A&M-Corpus Christi secure the 25-16 set one win.
Set two started with HCU out first again for a 3-0 lead that the Huskies held on to through a 13-10 mark. Not deterred by this, the Islanders went on a 10-1 run aided by five kills by Payne to reverse the score for a 20-14 A&M-Corpus Christi lead. HCU came back within two late in the set for a 23-21 score, but kills by Stolfus and Litterell closed out the second set 25-21 in A&M-Corpus Christi's favor.
Mimicking the previous two sets, HCU earned the first point before the onset of a back-and-forth affair as the third set featured seven tie scores and five lead changes. The Islanders took over 10-9 off a service ace by Litterell for the final lead change of the match, as they were able to maintain ahead the rest of the way. Kills by Stolfus and a kill by Panhans led to a 5-0 run late in the set to take the Islanders up 22-16. HCU managed two more points, but the set ultimately ended A&M-Corpus Christi's way 25-18 after the match-victory kill by Stolfus.
"Our team really came out with being intentional about what they wanted to do on each play. I'm so proud of their mental focus and how they were able to change the momentum of the game when we needed it," said Greene.
A&M-Corpus Christi will close out its second home stand on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Nicholls (4-16, 1-7). The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
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