HAMMOND, La. – Hitting the road for the final time in the regular season, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team will face Southeastern Thursday and New Orleans Saturday for the second to last week of conference play.
It will be a battle for first on Thursday, as the Islanders (18-8, 13-1 SLC) and the Lady Lions (22-4, 13-1 SLC) are tied at the top of the Southland standings entering the final four matches of the regular season. Saturday's match against the Privateers (5-20, 3-11 SLC) is set for 1 p.m.. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.
The Islanders will look to close out an undefeated road SLC record after being the only team to have not dropped a road match to a Southland opponent this year. They will also look to extend their current winning streak of 12, the longest since the 2016 season when the program won 13 in a row.
"We are continually improving our block and defense and I am impressed with how our team has been adapting and handling the challenges each conference match," said head coach
Steve Greene.
"Road matches have always presented unique environments to compete in. Southeastern and New Orleans have different styles of play, so we will need to be able to stay focused on our side and do what we do well. Our serve and pass game has been doing better and better the last few weeks and we are looking for that part of our game to be even better this weekend," said Greene.
Three of those wins came last week when the Islanders posted consecutive sweeps over UIW, HCU, and Nicholls. Against the Colonels, A&M-Corpus Christi turned in the program's second-best hitting percentage with a .500. The program record was set earlier this season when they hit .506 against New Orleans.
The successful week got junior
Kyndal Payne and graduate
Belle Morgan both recognitions from the conference, as Payne earned her second SLC Offensive Player of the Week while Morgan won her fifth Setter of the Week nod.
Payne tops the conference in kills (199), kills pet set (4.42), and points per set (4.88) in SLC play. She also ranks 21
st nationally in total kills with 358 and 32
nd in total points with 400.5 on the year.
Morgan has led every conference match in assists this year, helping her to lead the league in assists (586), recording at least 80 more than the rest of the league for a conference-best 12.47 assist/set average on the year. She ranks 12
th nationally in total assists with 956 and 15
th with her overall assists pet set mark (10.62).
Junior
Leah Stolfus also finds herself in a top ranked position, hitting a conference-best .436 against Southland opponents as the only hitter averaging above a .400 mark.
In SLC play, the Islanders lead it in points per set (19.09), hitting percentage (.300), assists (686), and kills (743). They rank third in the nation in total kills (1,343), fourth in kills per set (14.44) and ninth in total assists (1,208).
Following this week, the Islanders will not have to leave again as they will close out the regular season with two matches at home before hosting the Southland Conference Championships Nov. 16-19 in the Dugan Wellness Center. There, they will fight for another road trip to the NCAA Tournament which would begin on Nov. 30.
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