COPRUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team will finally begin its 2023 SLC Tournament campaign against No. 3 McNeese Saturday at 5 p.m. in the semifinals on its home court of the Dugan Wellness Center.
The Islanders (21-9, 16-2 SLC) earned the No. 2 seed and a place in the semifinals after finishing second in the regular season conference standings. They will look to take down the third-seeded Cowgirls (16-16, 13-5 SLC) for the third time this season after sweeping the series 6-1.
All matches in the tournament will be available to watch live on ESPN+.
"We had a really focused week of practice and the team is ready and excited for the conference tournament," said head coach
Steve Greene. "We know that everyone will be playing their best but are looking forward to being in front of our home crowd in the Dugan Wellness Center. Our assistant coaches, trainers, strength coaches, academic staff, and support staff have done an amazing job preparing and supporting all of our student-athletes. We are so thankful and humbled by the opportunity to perform and compete this weekend."
A&M-Corpus Christi posted its first 20+ win season since 2016, Greene's first year at the helm. It included a 16-2 conference mark that featured a 12-match winning streak which at the time was the 10
th longest active winning streak in the NCAA.
In that success, four Islanders were honored on the SLC postseason awards including junior
Kyndal Payne defending her claim as the SLC Player of the Year. Graduate
Belle Morgan was named SLC Setter of the Year and joined Payne on the All-Conference First-Team along with junior
Leah Stolfus. Junior
Kayla White rounded out the awards after winning the libero spot on the All-Conference Second-Team.
The Islanders have captured Player of the Year for the last three consecutive years, while it also being the fifth straight year that they produced the Setter of the Year.
Payne led the league in kills per set for the second year in a row with a 4.32 average. She led all outside hitters with a .312 hitting percentage as well as being the only player in the league to average over 4.0 kills/set combined with over 3.0 digs/set. She hit no less than 16 kills in each meeting this season with McNeese.
Morgan was a five-time SLC Setter of the Week recipient and led the conference in assists per set (12.24) and total assists (722) after running the league's most efficient offense to a .291 clip with a 15.51 team kills/set mark.
The four selections had A&M-Corpus Christi come away with the most postseason honorees among the Southland.
McNeese earned the No. 3 seed after only dropping five matches through the conference slate, spearheaded by the SLC Libero of the Year Bailey Tillman and SLC Freshman of the Year Tshilanda Diou. The Cowgirls will be coming off a three-set sweep over No. 7 New Orleans in the quarterfinals, led by offensive duo of Carissa Chainey and McKenzie Moore who registered 15 and 14 kills, respectively.
The victor will advance to Sunday's championship match against the winner of No. 1 Southeastern and No. 4 HCU, set for 2 p.m.
The Islanders lead the all-time record over McNeese 19-6 and is an undefeated 3-0 against the Cowgirls in the SLC Tournament, including a 3-1 triumph in the 2021 SLC Championship match to win the title. The last time the Islanders hosted the tournament, they won as the No. 4 seed after taking down No. 1 SFA and No. 2 Sam Houston to hoist the championship trophy and earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
It will be A&M-Corpus Christi's first stint in the SLC Tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Islanders will be fighting for its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and third in the last four years.
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