THIBODAUX, La. – Hitting for the program's second-best attack percentage with a .500 mark, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team cruised through Nicholls 3-0 for the second time this season Saturday at David R. Stopher Gym.
Early runs in sets one and two helped the Islanders (18-8, 13-1 SLC) to 25-14 and 25-18 wins for the 2-0 advantage in the match. Nicholls (3-21, 1-13 SLC) kept it closer in the third, but A&M-Corpus Christi pulled away late to secure the 25-19 set three and match victory.
It was the second time this year that the Islanders hit at least .500 after breaking the program record for hitting percentage with a .506 against New Orleans, making it the second-best attack percentage in program history. It came after the Islanders hit above .560 in the last two sets, only making one error in both.
"We did so well to come out and compete at a high level at the end of a difficult three-match week," said head coach
Steve Greene. "Our offense was clicking, and our ball control was really strong throughout the match."
It also marks A&M-Corpus Christi's 12
th straight victory, the longest winning streak since 2016 when the program won 13 in a row. The Islanders remain the only team in the league to be undefeated on the road in conference play. They are now officially tied for first in the Southland standings.
Nine different Islanders registered kills with six hitting above 50 percent. Junior
Kyndal Payne and sophomore
Rylee Achtzehn both turned in nine kills for a .533 hitting percentage. Sophomore
Tayah Little came off the bench to hit for a .600 clip off six kills without an error.
Spreading the ball was graduate
Belle Morgan, running the offense to its .500 efficiency with 37 assists. She converted on three of her four attacks herself as well as dropping in four service aces, her third time to record four aces in a match. The last time also came against Nicholls in the teams' first meeting of the year.
Morgan has continued to lead every conference match in assists this season.
"Belle did an outstanding job distributing the offense today. We had so many hitters scoring from all positions and that's a testament to her ability to run the team. Our core of middles also all did really well, and we had great attacking from Tayah and [graduate]
Morgan Smith in sets two and three," said Greene.
The defense held Nicholls to a .174 hitting percentage, as the Islanders have yet to allow a Southland opponent to hit above .220 this year. Junior
Kayla White was the only player to record double figure digs, leading the match with 16. Sophomore
Zoria Heard picked up six digs while Payne had five.
"Kayla did a great job of making big plays to stop Nicholls from going on runs at key times in the match," Greene said.
With only four games remaining in the regular season, the Islanders will play two on the road next week including Southeastern on Thursday. It will be a battle for sole possession of the top spot in the rankings, as both are tied for first with the 13-1 SLC record.
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