CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball program will look to regroup this week as the team is back at home to continue with the second half of conference play with Texas A&M-Commerce on Thursday, presented by Dominos Pizza, and Northwestern State on Saturday in the Dugan Wellness Center.
The Islanders (7-18, 7-4) are coming off an 0-2 week on the road but will face Texas A&M-Commerce (9-16, 5-6) and Northwestern State (13-9, 6-5) again after defeating both in the first round of the conference slate as the visiting team.
Thursday night is set for 6:30 p.m. against the Lions and will feature a special Senior Night recognition for graduate student
Aurora Carnes. Saturday's matchup is scheduled for 1 p.m. against the Lady Demons. Both matches will be available to watch on ESPN+.
"We are looking forward to two tough matches at home," said head coach
Steve Greene. "Last week was a difficult road trip and I am confident that we learned how to handle more of the pressure that comes with being on the road and handling tough competition when they bring their best against us. The Dugan Wellness Center and the DeepEnd crowd provide a huge advantage for us and we are excited to perform in front of our home crowd again."
A&M-Corpus Christi sits tied for second in the conference standings with seven conference matches remaining on the schedule, with only one win separating first and second place.
The Islanders lead the league in team kills (591) and team assists (538). Sophomore
Leah Stolfus sits second overall in the Southland in hitting percentage with a .319. Stolfus has recorded 245 kills this season, almost tripling her kill total from the 2021 season (98). Senior
Faith Panhans records a .290 to place herself fifth in hitting percentage and 9.23 assists her set to sit third in the league.
Sophomore
Kyndal Payne tops the conference stats in kills at 190, kills per set at 4.87, points at 208 and points per set at 5.33. She ranks 22
nd in the nation for total kills this season with 331.
Senior
Carissa Barnes also finds herself in the national rankings, coming in at ninth for total digs (464) while also leading the conference in the category. She has been the digs-leader in every conference match this season, turning in 11 20+ digs performances including when she broke the program record for most digs in a match with 45 against Tulsa.
In its first year in the Southland, A&M-Commerce is led by outside hitter Maddy Rashford who records a .248 hitting percentage off 244 kills. The Islanders kept Rashford to her lowest kills earned in a conference match in the previous matchup this season. A&M-Corpus Christi is now 1-0 all-time over the Lions.
Northwestern State is just one win behind the Islanders in its conference record. The Lady Demons are paced by Reaghan Thompson with a .345 hitting percentage off 172 kills as their offense leads the conference in fewest opponent blocks allowed. Northwestern State and A&M-Corpus Christi are tied 11-11 in the all-time record, with the Islanders having won the last five consecutive meetings.
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