CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Head coach
Steve Greene of the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team got his 126
th victory to become the most winning coach in program history as the Islanders swept Nicholls 3-0 Saturday at the Dugan Wellness Center.
Greene surpassed Tony Graystone's (2009-15) previous program-best of 125 wins on the Island, solidifying his name as the all-time win leader through his seven plus years at the helm. It extended his historical mark at A&M-Corpus Christi as he had already become the program's conference win leader back in 2021. He is now at 89 wins against Southland opponents since being named head coach in 2016.
The Islanders (13-8, 8-1 SLC) have now won seven in a row with the 3-0 win over Nicholls (2-17, 0-9 SLC), the longest winning streak since 2021 when they started 8-0 in SL play. It closes out the top half of the conference slate, as A&M-Corpus Christi is just half a game back in the standings.
A&M-Corpus Christi took care of business early with quick 25-8, 25-12 sets to jump out to a 2-0 match lead in front of its home crowd. Nicholls showed life in the third and fought to the end, but the Islanders closed out the 25-20 set and match victory.
With the early barrage, the Islanders defense stayed strong to force the Colonels into the negatives with a -.092 hitting, the lowest on the season. Junior
Kayla White covered the floor for a match-high 17 digs while sophomore
Zoria Heard followed with 10.
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Belle Morgan continued her own streak of being the match-leader in assists for every conference match this year with 30 on the day. It was also her second match in a row to record four service aces. Sophomore
Rylie Romero and freshman
Alexis Massey also got some reps at the setter position to help run the offense to a .320 hitting efficiency.
It is the third match in a row that the Islanders hit above. 300 as a team, and fifth in conference play this year. Continuing to hit at a high efficiency is junior
Leah Stolfus who went four for five without an error to increase her lead in the Southland rankings for hitting percentage with a .454 in SLC play.
Junior
Kyndal Payne attacked for nine kills without an error to lead the match. Junior
Morgan Baese also went without an error, slamming eight kills for her second straight .533 attack performance. Sophomore
Tori Arrington then came off the bench to add seven kills while sophomore Rylee Achztehn hammered six.
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Morgan Smith tacked on four kills as well as leading the match with five blocks, including two solos. Baese and Arrington each denied the Colonels by themselves also.
The Islanders will begin the second half of the SLC slate on the road, heading to rematch McNeese and Lamar. A&M-Corpus Christi will next play at home in the Dugan Wellness Center on Tuesday, Oct. 24 for a "Bluesday Tuesday" Blue Out.
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