CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team will remain on the road at McNeese for a Thursday night matchup at Legacy Center before returning home to welcome UIW on Saturday at the Dugan Wellness Center to continue the conference-slate.
A&M-Corpus Christi (4-15, 4-1) is coming off a 3-0 week after garnering wins over Lamar, Northwestern State and Texas A&M-Commerce. The Thursday matchup at 6:30 p.m. at McNeese (7-12, 3-2) will be the third consecutive away competition for the Islanders, who are undefeated on the road in conference. A three-game homestand for the Islanders will kick off on Saturday at 1 p.m. against UIW (2-13, 1-4).
The match against UIW will be streamed on ESPN+.
"This is an interesting week for us with a road trip and then back home," said head coach
Steve Greene. "McNeese has had a solid season so far and really does well in all aspects of the game. They are very well coached, and we look forward to tough competition from them. We will be excited to come back home and play in the Dugan against UIW on Saturday. We are looking forward to having the DeepEnd and the local community come out to support us!"
Sophomore
Kyndal Payne has led every conference match in kills, being named the Southland's Offensive Player of the Week following A&M-Corpus Christi's undefeated week two of conference play. The honor came after Payne hit for a .314 from the three matches, including breaking the program record for most kills in a match where she recorded 28 against Northwestern State.
Senior
Carissa Barnes was simultaneously named the Defensive Player of the Week after being the match leader in digs for a 4.82 per set average. She has broken two program records this year, recording the most digs in a match (45 against Tulsa) and becoming the all-time leader in career digs with 1,912 and counting. Barnes has been the dig leader in 14 matches this season, totaling 341 digs which ranks her seventh nationally in the category.
In conference play, the Islanders lead the league in hitting percentage (.254), assists per set (14.12), and kills per set (15.82) while also allowing the lowest opponent kills, assists, digs and service aces.
Sophomore
Leah Stolfus leads the team in hitting percentage with a .307 off 183 kills, continuing to way surpass her last season's kill total of 98. Senior
Faith Panhans is fourth in the conference in hitting percentage (.350) and second in assists per set (9.59) against Southland opponents.
The freshmen class has stepped up big, as
Tayah Little leads the team in blocks at 44,
Halle Gibson recording a .281 hitting percentage while also picking up a double-double against CSUN and
Zoria Heard records 137 digs.
A&M-Corpus Christi was picked to finish first in the preseason poll. Payne, Panhans and Barnes were all selected to the preseason All-Conference First-Team.
The Islanders have been victorious in the last 16 meetings with the Cowgirls, leading the all-time record 16-5. Against the Cardinals, A&M-Corpus Christi has only ever dropped one match in the all-time record, leading it 16-1.
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