SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Following an undefeated week at home, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team will take a trip to UIW for a Tuesday night conference matchup at McDermott Center.
A&M-Corpus Christi (9-18, 9-4) is riding a 2-0 undefeated week in conference play after taking down both Texas A&M-Commerce and Northwestern State in three-set sweeps. UIW (6-17, 5-8) split its record last week, garnering a win over Lamar while dropping to A&M-Commerce.
The matchup between the Islanders and the Cardinals is set for 6:00 p.m. CT. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
"UIW is a really solid offensive team, and they have strong attackers in all positions," said head coach
Steve Greene. "We have been steadily improving our first-ball offense as well as our team block and defense. We need to continue to work hard in these areas as we push towards these last few conference matches and prepare for the conference tournament."
The Islander offense has been led by sophomores
Kyndal Payne and
Leah Stolfus as both rank in the top-10 in the conference for hitting percentage and points. Stolfus has been the most efficient hitter not only on the A&M-Corpus Christi team, but in the entire league as she tops the rankings with a .329 mark. In the conference stats, Payne sits first in kills (218), kills per set (4.84), points (239) and points per set (5.31).
Senior
Faith Panhans has also aided in the overall effort of A&M-Corpus Christi as she ranks herself third in the league in assists per set (9.23) and fifth in hitting percentage (.292). The All-American recently surpassed the 2,500 career assists milestone and moved into third all-time in the program record book for the feat.
"Faith has really started to shine with her overall game and putting attackers in good positions to score lately. Her improvement is a big part of our team success of late," Greene said.
Senior
Carissa Barnes has been stout defensively for the Islanders, averaging 5.15 digs per set off 494 total digs. She tops the league in both categories while also ranking herself nationally in the top-10 in total digs and top-20 in digs per set. Barnes recently hit the 2,000 career dig milestone and now holds the all-time program record for career digs.
At the service line, Barnes also leads A&M-Corpus Christi in service aces with 40 to take her career total to 165, only 15 shy of the tying the program's career record. Junior
Ella Litterell seconds the team in aces with 20.
UIW is led by Kyla Malone who ranks third in the conference for kills per set (3.25) and sixth in points (168.5), and also Annamarie Alvarez who is the Cardinal's most efficient hitter with a .326 mark in league play. The Cardinals currently sit eighth in the standings.
A&M-Corpus Christi leads 17-1 in the all-time record over UIW and 14-0 when it's been a conference matchup. Five matches remain in the conference-slate this season, with the Islanders currently sitting in second place, one win short of the lead. The Islanders could clinch the regular season title with a win-out.
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