HAMMOND, Louisiana – In its first of two road matchups this week,
the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision Thursday night to Southeastern at the University Center.
The Islanders (7-17, 7-3) took set one 25-15 before the Lady Lions (16-6, 6-4) rallied to take sets two, three and four to win the match. Despite the loss, A&M-Corpus Christi outhit Southeastern .207 to .193, recording 52 kills compared to Southeastern's 50.
Three Islanders recorded double-figure kills, with junior
Ella Litterell leading it with her season-high 13 kills for a .281 hitting percentage. Sophomore
Kyndal Payne was right behind with 12 kills and 11 digs for a double-double, while sophomore
Leah Stolfus turned in 11 kills.
Senior
Carissa Barnes led the match in digs with 26, pushing her career total past the 2,000 milestone to now record 2,017 digs. Barnes has turned in 11 20+ dig matches this season.
Senior
Faith Panhans tallied 36 assists, three kills and nine digs to near a double-double. Panhans recently hit the 2,500 career assists milestone and has moved into third overall in the program record book. Freshman
Halle Gibson earned two service aces, four assists and two digs.
"Southeastern did a good job attacking with confidence which is still an area we are working to improve on our side," said head coach
Steve Greene. "I'm really impressed with how Ella played tonight as well as Halle coming off the bench and competing."
Set one featured A&M-Corpus Christi ahead the whole way, after a kill by graduate student
Aurora Carnes gave the Islanders a quick 5-0 lead. Carnes earned a solo block to give the Islanders a 10-point advantage at the 17-7 mark. That same deficit came at 22-12 after a kill by sophomore
Morgan Baese and again at 25-15 after a service error by the Lady Lions gave the Islanders the set one win.
A pair of kills by Litterell helped A&M-Corpus Christi to a 5-1 lead in the second set before a 6-0 run by Southeastern reversed the lead. A 5-point spurt for Southeastern created an 11-point advantage at the 23-12 mark and the Lady Lions were able to close out 25-13 to even the match 1-1.
Sets three and four were both decided by just two points, with Southeastern finishing on top in both.
A solo block by Payne gave the Islanders a 13-10 edge in the third before the Lady Lions tied it up 13-all. Another tie came at 22-22 after back-to-back kills by Stolfus. A kill by Payne forced a 24-all to keep the set alive before the extra points went in favor of Southeastern 26-24. The Islanders went down 23-19 in set four and despite a 3-0 run fueled by Payne and freshman
Tayah Little, Southeastern pulled out the 25-23 set and match win.
"We had opportunities to win sets three and four and didn't have the effort to close those sets out to win the match," Greene said.
This marked just the second time in program history Southeastern defeated A&M-Corpus Christi in Hammond. The Islanders continue to lead the all-time record 17-4 over the Lady Lions.
The Islanders will remain on the road, continuing to New Orleans (12-10, 6-4) for a matchup on Saturday at 1 p.m. A&M-Corpus Christi will be going for the season-sweep over the Privateers after defeating them in straight-sets at home earlier this season. The match will be available to watch on ESPN+.
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