CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – For its 2022 home opener, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team will welcome Sam Houston, SMU and Indiana in the Islanders Classic, presented by Schlotzsky's, this weekend at the Dugan Wellness Center.
A 10:30 a.m. match on Friday between Sam Houston (2-2) and SMU (2-1) will open the tournament. SMU will then take on Indiana (2-1) at 4 p.m. that day while the Islanders (0-4) will compete in their home opener against Sam Houston at 6:30 p.m. Saturday has Indiana and Sam Houston pitted against each other at 10:30 a.m. and a double-header for the Islanders as they will take on SMU at 1:00 p.m. and Indiana at 6:30 p.m. to close out the weekend.
All matches played against the Islanders will be streamed on ESPN+.
"Our team is really looking forward to playing at home in front of our Islanders fans!" said head coach
Steve Greene. "The Dugan Wellness Center always provides a great home court advantage and an exciting atmosphere. I know our team is excited to showcase their talents and efforts in front of the DeepEnd as well as our local Corpus Christi fanbase."
The Islanders have put up promising performances against tough competition in Nebraska, Pepperdine and Tulsa. Senior
Faith Panhans and sophomore
Kyndal Payne have turned in two double-double performances while senior
Carissa Barnes has broken the program record for most digs in a game at 45 already this season.
Payne leads the team with 47 kills with sophomore
Leah Stolfus second with 40 and freshman
Tayah Little at 33. Little leads the team in blocks at 11.
A&M-Corpus Christi has won the last six of ten meetings against former conference-foe Sam Houston. The last meeting between the two programs was in the championship match of the 2020 Southland Tournament, where the Islanders topped the Bearkats in a 3-2 crowning victory. Sam Houston holds a 2-2 record going into the weekend, recording wins over Florida A&M and Prairie View A&M and losses to Kansas State and NC State.
SMU holds a 2-0 all-time record over the Islanders, having only met in 2012 and last in 2017. The Mustangs hosted the SMU Doubletree Invitational opening weekend and went 2-1, topping UC Irvine and Depaul while dropping a match against Stephen F. Austin.
Saturday night's game will mark the first ever time A&M-Corpus Christi and Indiana have faced each other. The power-five Hoosiers enter the weekend with a 2-1 record, garnering wins over Indiana State and Chicago State and dropping straight sets to Jacksonville State.
"Sam Houston, SMU and Indiana all have different styles of play and are very strong teams that will provide us a lot of opportunities to learn and improve. I expect all the matches to be very tightly contested and for our fans to see some fantastic volleyball," said Greene.
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