BEAUMONT, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team will close out its 2022 season on the road, traveling to Lamar for a Thursday night matchup before competing in its the final game of the season at Nicholls on Saturday.
The Islanders (11-19, 11-5) will face Lamar (9-18, 3-13) Thursday at 6 p.m. before taking on Nicholls (7-21, 4-12) Saturday at 11 a.m. They defeated both teams in straight sets earlier this season at home.
A&M-Corpus Christi is coming off a 2-1 week that featured wins over UIW and current first-place McNeese. The Islanders are now tied with Southeastern for second place in the conference standings.
"Heading into the last week of conference play, we are looking to work on a couple of areas for improvement as we prepare for the conference tournament," said head coach
Steve Greene. "Consistency and balance on the offensive end are needed as well as better first touches in certain defensive situations. We are hoping to be fully rested and healthy at this critical time of the year."
Last week, the Islanders were led by middle blocker sophomore
Leah Stolfus who is the reigning Southland Offensive Player of the Week. She hit her career-high 23 kills twice in back-to-back games last week to average a .414 hitting percentage. Stolfus has recorded 360.5 points this season, which places her second on the team and eighth in the league. She tops the Southland in hitting percentage with a .342 on the year.
Sophomore
Kyndal Payne is the one who leads the Islanders in points with 465.5. In conference play, she ranks first in kills (278), kills per set (4.88), points (305.5) and points per set (5.36).
Senior
Faith Panhans is also coming off a strong week, recording her season-high 60 assists in the 3-2 victory over McNeese. She averaged 12.67 assists per set while also hitting for a .385 off 16 kills.
Senior
Carissa Barnes is first in the league in fifth in the nation for total digs at 557. This season alone, Barnes has broken the program record for most digs in a match (45) and total career digs (2,101+). She records 167 career service aces, just 13 away from tying that program record.
As a team, the Islanders are second in the nation in both total assists (1,374) and total kills (1,480).
Lamar is currently last in the Southland standings but have garnered wins over New Orleans, Texas A&M-Commerce, and Southeastern. The Cardinals are led by Kaitlyn Gil and Paige Dugan who both turn in over 300 kills on the season to average over 3.5 points per set.
Nicholls sits ninth in the standings. The Colonels are coming off an undefeated 3-0 week of conference play to keep their hopes of a tournament berth alive. They are led by Katie Jones who turns in 262 kills on the season for a .214 mark.
The Islanders lead both teams in the all-time records, topping Lamar 17-13, and Nicholls 19-1. A&M-Corpus Christi needs to win both to at least finish second in the conference standings.
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