CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Getting it done both offensively and defensively, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball program cruised to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-17) sweep over Northwestern State on Thursday at the Dugan Wellness Center.
With the victory, the Islanders clinched a double bye to the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament and at least the No. 2 seed. The win also improved A&M-Corpus Christi's record to 20-9 (15-2 SLC), giving them their first 20-win season since 2016.
The Islanders hit for a .275 mark and limited the Lady Demons to a .097 clip to tally their 13th sweep of the season, 11th in conference play and sixth in their last seven matches. A&M-Corpus Christi also committed just one reception error, making it the fourth time in conference that an opponent had only one or less service ace.
Junior
Kyndal Payne led the attack with 19 kills and a .333 hitting percentage to go along with 11 digs for a double-double. She entered play leading the league in kills per set with a .422 mark and averaged 6.33 kills per set in the match. It was her 13th double-double of the season and eighth in conference.
Heavily aiding the attack was sophomore
Rylee Achtzehn with 10 kills and a .389 hitting mark. It was her sixth double-digit kill performance of the year.
Defensively, three Islanders reached double-figures in digs. in Addition to Payne's 11 digs, junior
Kayla White led the team with 15 and sophomore
Zoria Heard registered 11. Graduate
Morgan Smith also was a big contributor with a team-high four digs to go along with seven kills and a .500 hitting clip.
A&M-Corpus Christi started slow and fell behind 5-0 in the first set when it responded with a 7-2 run to tie it 7-7 on a kill by Payne. Another attack by Payne put them ahead 9-8 and a kill by junior
Leah Stolfus increased it to 15-12. A kill by Smith gave A&M-Corpus Christi a 19-14 edge and the Islanders ended it 25-18 on a block assist by Achtzehn and Stolfus.
The Islanders and the Lady Demons were neck-and-neck in the first part of the second set and tied 13-13 until A&M-Corpus Christi again made a late move. An ace by graduate
Belle Morgan started a 6-1 spurt as a block assists by Achtzehn and Smith made it 20-14. Kills by sophomore
Tori Arrington and Payne ended it 25-18 after the Islanders forced a -.022 hitting mark from the Lady Demons in the frame.
Three consecutive kills by Payne had A&M-Corpus Christi leading 6-2 early in the third. Another big attack by Payne upped it to 16-11 and a block by Smith changed it to 18-12. The Islanders ended it 25-17 on a dump by sophomore
Rylie Romero.
A&M-Corpus Christi will close out the regular season at home Saturday when it hosts Texas A&M-Commerce at 1 p.m. on Senior Day.
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