TUSCON, Ariz. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team dropped its non-conference finale 25-13, 17-25, to UTEP Saturday at McKale Center as part of the Wildcat Classic.
The Islanders (0-14) dominated UTEP (5-7) in the first set before dropping the next three to the Miners. Sophomore
Morgan Baese led A&M-Corpus Christi in kills with nine, while sophomore
Leah Stolfus and junior
McKenna Reiswig followed her with eight and five, respectively. Junior
Ella Litterell turned in a match-high five service aces while senior
Carissa Barnes got three along with 14 digs.
As a team, the Islanders allowed a season-low .184 attack percentage from an opponent and earned a season-high 10 services aces.
Set one had UTEP keep an early 4-1 before the Islanders took over at the 9-all mark, going on a 4-0 scoring run to go up 12-9. Kills by Reiswig and Baese kept A&M-Corpus Christi ahead 14-12. The Miners kept it within two at 15-13 before the Islanders went on a season-high 10-0 scoring run that began with a solo block by Baese to close out the 25-13 set victory.
The closest set of the match was the second, although the Miners led the whole way after jumping out to a 3-0 lead. The Islanders would contest UTEP with kills by sophomore
Kyndal Payne and Reiswig bringing the game within on at the 10-9 mark and again at the 17-16 mark after kills by Stolfus and Baese, but a 6-point spurt separated the Miners to help them take set two 25-19 and even the match 1-1.
A pair of kills by Baese kept the Islanders up through a 4-3 score in set three before another 6-0 run by UTEP gave the Miners a lead they never relinquished. Back-to-back services aces by Litterell would bring the Islanders within five (22-17) but UTEP closed out a 25-17 set three win.
Early errors by the Islanders allowed UTEP to go up 6-2 as the Miners never the A&M-Corpus Christi within three the rest of the way. The Islanders garnered kills from Stolfus, Reiswig and Litterell before UTEP secured a 25-14 set and match win.
This marked the final non-conference match for A&M-Corpus Christi, entering conference play averaging 12 kills per set, 1.2 service aces per set, and 14.1 digs per set.
"We played some really high-level competition in our non-conference slate. We got some opportunities to get everyone in different spots to see how they would handle situations. Our core of leaders are really starting to communicate well and hold their teammates to higher standards. We need individuals to stay confident and do what they do well; we have a ton of talent on this team and we're looking forward to what we can do in conference play," said head coach
Steve Greene.
A&M-Corpus Christi will return home to host New Orleans in its conference opener next Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The Islanders were picked first in the preseason poll after winning the last two conference tournaments.
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