CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – In front of its largest home crowd of year with 1,021 in attendance, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi used the energy to produce two massive rallies at the end of sets two and three to secure a straight set victory over HCU Thursday night in the Dugan Wellness Center for the team's Pink Out night, presented by Radiology Associates.
The Islanders (17-8, 12-1 SLC) stayed ahead the majority of the first to open with a 25-19 set win over HCU (13-12, 8-5 SLC). The Huskies came out in the second to hold a late 23-21 lead but A&M-Corpus Christi fought off set point twice to steal set two 27-25 after the sneak attack by graduate
Belle Morgan.
HCU held a strong lead in the third 17-11 but the emphatic kill by junior
Kyndal Payne sparked momentum to get the Islanders back within three. A five-point serving run by sophomore
Kendall Mahaney finally reversed the score late as the Islanders went on to complete the comeback, taking it 25-21 for the three-set win.
It marks A&M-Corpus Christ's 11
th straight win, the programs longest winning streak since the 2016 season when the Islanders won 13 consecutive matches. It also completed the Islanders' season-sweep over HCU. It is the first time in three seasons since the two teams didn't split the yearly series.
It is the second match in a row that the Islanders hit above .300 and seventh time against Southland opponents this year. The 53 kill-total is the second most in a three-set match in conference play this season for the team.
Payne led the match with 19 kills for a .375 hitting clip, adding 12 digs for her sixth double-double in league play. Junior
Leah Stolfus hit in double figures for 14 kills, going without error for a .467 mark. Graduates
Belle Morgan and
Morgan Smith both recorded four kills without an error for .500 and .444 hitting percentage, respectively.
Morgan ran the offense to its .326 efficiency, assisting on 46 of the team's 53 kills. It was her season-high in a three-set match as she has continued to lead every conference match in assists this year.
A big defensive addition was the Islanders block, denying HCU eight times. The eight blocks was the second-most by the Islanders in league play this year. Stolfus came up with four blocks, matching her career-best of two solo blocks. Smith and sophomore Rylee Achztehn each contributed to blocking the Huskies three times.
On the back row, junior
Kayla White covered the floor to pick up 17 digs to lead the match. Payne's 12 followed her while Mahaney tallied 11 digs, her fifth time to record double figure digs in conference play.
As a whole, the Islanders kept the Huskies to a .214 attack percentage. A&M-Corpus Christi has not allowed a Southland opponent to hit over .220 against them all year.
The Islanders will hit the road to close out the busy three-match week, heading to face Nicholls at 11 a.m. Saturday. A&M-Corpus Christi is the only team in the league that is undefeated on the road in conference play.
There are only five matches remaining in the regular season, as the Islanders are half a game back in the standings. They will host the SLC Championships in the Dugan Wellness Center Nov. 16-19.
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