TUSCON, Ariz. – Senior
Carissa Barnes became the all-time career leader in digs for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team on day one of the Wildcat Classic where the Islanders dropped 3-0 to Arizona before being edged out 3-2 to Cal State Northridge Friday at McKale Center.
Barnes surpassed the 1,774 digs previously set as the most career digs, currently recording 1,804 digs and counting. This was the second record this year that she broke, also breaking the program's record for most digs in a match (45). She leads the team with 233 digs this season, averaging 4.96 digs per set.
Game One – Arizona 3, A&M-Corpus Christi 0
A&M-Corpus Christi (0-13) took on host Arizona (8-1) in the first match of the day, dropping 25-22, 26-24 and 25-11. Barnes led the match in digs at 21 while sophomore
Leah Stolfus recorded a team-high eight kills. Sophomore
Kyndal Payne stepped into the setter role, garnering 17 assists and three kills in the match. As a team, the Islanders recorded eight service aces against the Wildcats, a season-high.
The Islanders jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first set after a service error by the Wildcats and a kill by junior
Ella Litterell. Arizona forced a lead change but a kill by freshman
Tayah Little tied the set at 4-all before the Wildcats regained the lead. Down 23-17 after a kill by Stolfus, Barnes headed to the service line where she got four service aces in a row to bring the Islanders within two at the 23-21 mark. Another service error on the Wildcats gave A&M-Corpus Christi its 22
nd point of the set, but Arizona got away with a 25-22 set win.
Set two started the same as the first with the Islanders getting a quick 2-0 lead off a service ace by sophomore
Kayla White and a kill by Payne. The set was back and forth and featured multiple lead changes. The Islanders took advantage of several attack errors on the Wildcats to force a 23-23 tie. A kill by Little put the Islanders at set point, but a three-point spurt at the end by Arizona solidified the 26-24 set win for the Wildcats.
Arizona led the whole way in set three, jumping out to a 10-1 lead the Islanders couldn't make up. Freshman
Brooke Copley got a pair of kills, one of which gave A&M-Corpus Christi its final point of the match, before the Wildcats closed out the 25-11 set and match win.
Game Two – Cal State Northridge 3, A&M-Corpus Christi 2
The second match of the day for the Islanders was a close fight through the end, dropping in five sets to CSUN (5-6) 25-27, 25-17, 27-25, 20-25 and 14-16. Three of the five sets required extra points.
Payne, Stolfus, sophomore
Morgan Baese and junior McKenna Reisiwg all recorded double-digit kills with Stolfus leading the pack at 21. Payne also garnered 18 digs to earn her third double-double of the season while freshman
Halle Gibson earned her first double-double of the season with 62 assists and 10 digs. Barnes was the match leader again in digs, registering 29.
Set one would go to extra points as neither lead led by more than two points until kills by the Matadors gave them a 14-11 lead. The Islanders would tie it back up at 21-all off kills by Resiwig and Baese along with a service ace by freshman
Zoria Heard. The Islanders reached set point twice but CSUN was able to tie the set both times before pulling away for a 27-25 opening set win.
A 3-2 lead in the second set for A&M-Corpus Christi was never given up as the Islanders turned in their highest attack percentage on the day (.306). Their lead swelled to six at the 9-3 mark after a kill and two service aces by White. A block by Payne and Little allowed the Islanders to double-up on the Matadors (14-7) and the lead would only extend as A&M-Corpus Christi evened the match after the 25-17 set win.
Despite a 18-12 lead by CSUN in the third, the Islanders went on a 5-point run thanks to a trio of kills by Payne to cut the deficit by one. A service ace by Heard finally tied the Islanders back up at 23-all and despite a back and forth, kills by Stolfus and Payne closed out the set 27-25 in favor of A&M-Corpus Christi for a 2-1 lead.
Set four opened with a quick kill by Little for a 1-0 A&M-Corpus Christi lead. Despite two separate 4-point spurts by the Islanders and a 20-20 tie, CSUN earned five straight points to earn its largest set win of the match 25-20 and force a fifth set.
The deciding fifth set stayed on theme and remained tight the whole way. The Islanders took a 8-7 lead off a kill by Stolfus but the Matadors earned five of the next six points to go up 12-9. Match point came for CSUN at the 14-12 mark, but kills by Reiswig and Baese kept the match alive to tie it 14-all before a pair of kills by the Matadors gave them the 16-14 edge.
The Islanders will close out the weekend on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. CT against UTEP. It will mark the final match of the non-conference schedule before opening conference play next week.
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