LINCOLN, Nebraska - In a hard-fought match that lasted five sets, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team was edged out in the fifth set to drop 3-2 to Tulsa Saturday afternoon at Bob Devaney Sports Center Arena.
The Islanders (0-3) toughened five close sets against Tulsa (1-2) on day two of the Ameritas Players Challenge. The teams exchanged set victories as Tulsa took sets one and three while A&M-Corpus Christi won sets two and four to force a fifth. The match came down to a win-by-two, with Tulsa getting the 17-15 edge.
"We played a really solid match today and gave ourselves chances to win in set five," said head coach
Steve Greene. "I'm really proud of the resiliency and improvement we showed from match to match this weekend."
Set one opened with a kill from sophomore
Leah Stolfus to put A&M-Corpus Christi up 1-0, the only lead the Islanders would have that set. Despite tying the game up at 6-6 and again at 20-20, the Islanders couldn't regain a lead to allow Tulsa the 25-22 win in set one.
The Islanders evened the playing field in set two after going on a 5-0 run with kills by freshman
Tayah Little, sophomore
Kyndal Payne and junior
Ella Litterell to take a 8-3 lead. Tulsa managed to tie the score at 12-12 and held up with the Islanders until it was 19-19 when A&M-Corpus Christi pulled back ahead to make it 22-19. Another kill by Stolfus gave the Islanders the 25-21 win, with the team registering a .240 attack percentage off 19 kills this set.
After dropping set three 25-19, set four was crucial for the Islanders to force a fifth set, which they accomplished after turning in a .371 attack percentage for a battled 27-25 win. Critical defense by A&M-Corpus Christi's senior libero
Carissa Barnes played a massive role, along with three service aces by Barnes, Payne and freshman
Zoria Heard.
The fifth set showcased a lot of back and fourth between the Islanders and the Golden Hurricane in the first-to-15 set and although the Islanders held a 12-10 lead near the end, Tulsa outhit A&M-Corpus Christi .367 to .292 to secure the 17-15 win and match.
The Islanders turned in 75 kills for a .266 attack percentage in the match while also tallying 72 assits and 103 digs compared to Tulsa's 69 and 89, respectively. Stolfus led the team offensively at 17 kills with Payne right behind her with 16. Senior setter
Faith Panhans recorded her first double-double of the season with 53 assists and 12 digs and was only two hits short of a triple-double.
"Leah played brilliantly today," Greene said. "She was able to get kills from all zones across the net and really challenged Tulsa with her speed and making herself available to score."
Despite the loss, Barnes was selected to the All-Tournament Team after setting a Devaney Center facility record for most digs in a match played there. Tallying 45 digs against Tulsa, not only did Barnes break the facility record, she also set A&M-Corpus Christi's record for most digs in a match, beating the previous record of 42 set by Barnes last season against Southeastern Louisiana.
"Carissa was outstanding today," said Greene. "She's had many great matches but this one was definitely a highlight. She is a joy to coach and I am so proud of her success and how she continues to put her name in the record books."
A&M-Corpus Christi will next play in-state at UTRGV in the South Texas Showdown on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT.
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