CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Finishing the conference slate with a 16-2 record, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team pulled out a hard fought 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-14) sweep over Texas A&M-Commerce on senior day Saturday at the Dugan Wellness Center.
Prior to the match, A&M-Corpus Christi honored graduate
Belle Morgan and senior
McKenna Reiswig in a special senior day presentation. The program also recognized A&M-Commerce's four seniors, Reese Fetty, Essence Allen, Peyton Plant, and Yasmin Figueiredo.
The sweep didn't without a fight, as sets one and two were both determined by just two points. The Islanders (21-9, 16-2 SLC) had to come from behind late after trailing 21-19 in both sets before settling in and taking set three 25-14 over the Lions (9-22, 5-13 SLC) to cap the season with a victory.
Juniors
Leah Stolfus and
Kyndal Payne each ended as co-leaders in kills for the match with 12 apiece. With just one error, Stolfus hit for a .458 mark to end on top of the league in hitting percentage with a .404 clip in SLC play this year as the only hitter above .400. Payne ended conference play leading the league in kills (246) and kills per set (4.32).
Sophomore
Rylee Achtzehn finished with six kills while sophomores
Tayah Little and
Tori Arrington both registered five. Little went 5-for-6 for a .667 hitting percentage after coming off the bench to start the second set. She also finished with the match-high three blocks, including a huge solo block coming on set point in the second set.
Morgan ran the offense to finish with a .259 team hitting percentage, leading the match with 41 assists. It was her sixth time in conference play this year she recorded over 40 assists, and first since Oct. 26 versus HCU. She was the match-leader in assists in 17 of the 18 matches and finishes the year on top of the Southland with a 12.24 assist/set mark.
The defense picked up more stability in the third set, as junior
Kayla White ended with a match-best 14 digs. She recorded double figure digs in 15 of the 18 conference matches this year, finishing third in the SLC with a 4.76 digs/set mark.
It wraps up a .700 winning season for the Islanders, the best since 2020-21 when they posted a 14-5 overall record in a shortened season. It also extends on the program's first 20+ win season since 2016, the first year of Greene's leadership.
The bracket for the SLC Championships next week is now officially set, and the Islanders will be the No. 2 seed. Their first match will be on Saturday at 5p.m. in the semifinals against the winner of No. 3 McNeese and No. 6 UIW/No. 7 New Orleans.
It will be the program's second time in the last three years to have earned a double bye straight to the semifinals of the SLC Tournament. A&M-Corpus Christi's last campaign in the tournament when they began with a semifinal match resulted in a championship after they defeated No. 5 UIW and then No. 3 McNeese in the final.
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