DALLAS, Texas – Gearing up for a challenging final weekend of nonconference competition, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team will head north to compete against three Power Five schools in the SMU Doubletree Invitational this weekend at the Moody Coliseum.
A&M-Corpus Christi's (5-4) weekend will commence with a 4 p.m. matchup against LSU (3-4) on Friday. The Islanders will face hosts SMU (3-5) Saturday at 12 p.m. before wrapping on the nonconference schedule Sunday at 3 p.m. versus Texas Tech (6-3).
The match on Saturday against the Mustangs will be streamed live on ESPN+.
"We've seen a lot of improvement and growth during nonconference competitions," said head coach
Steve Greene. "This weekend will be a great opportunity for our players and team to showcase their talents against three strong Power Five teams.
"As conference play is right around the corner, we are looking to see what weaknesses we still need to improve upon as well as continue to build on our strengths. It's been great to see [junior]
Kyndal Payne shine throughout nonconference, she has improved and matured even more from her breakout season last year. [Sophomre]
Tayah Little, [junior]
Kayla White, and [junior]
Leah Stolfus have also been playing consistently well throughout nonconference and I am excited to see them continue to improve as their confidence continues to build," said Greene.
Payne is averaging 3.56 kills/set as the only player on the team to record over 100 kills on the season already. She has recorded five double-doubles so far, including coming off a 20-kill, 14-dig performance against UTRGV.
Stolfus has continued to be the team's most efficient hitter, turning in a .337 hitting percentage. She hammered 17 kills in A&M-Corpus Christi's last match and hit for a .429 mark. Little is averaging a .310 attack percentage, in addition to recording 11 blocks.
Defensively, White leads the Islanders with 126 digs for 3.60/set. She has the best reception percentage with at least 100 attempts at .986 and is one of two players to have played in all 35 sets this year along with sophomore
Kendall Mahaney who averages 2.11 digs/set.
As a team, A&M-Corpus Christi averages 13.2 kills/set while holding their opponents to 11.6. They have also out-dug their opponents 517-472. The Islanders lead the Southland Conference in opponent hitting percentage (.195), opponent kills, opponent assists (10.31/set), opponent service aces (45), opponent digs, and service aces (59). They are second in total points (575.5), hitting percentage (.248), and kills (463).
The Islanders will face both SMU and LSU for just the fourth time in program history. It will be their sixth all-time meeting with Texas Tech.
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