SAN ANTONIO, Texas – In just her third year as an Islander, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's
Kyndal Payne reached and surpassed her 1,000
th career kill as the volleyball team got back into the win column with a 3-0 victory against UIW in the McDermott Center.
Payne was only two kills away from the century milestone entering the match, achieving the feat within A&M-Corpus Christi's first six points of the match. She then went way beyond 1,000 with a total of 20 kills on the night, matching her career-high of kills in a three-set match.
It was her eighth career 20+ kill performance and 13th time hitting above .400 (.486).
"Kyndal is an amazing all-around player and the epitome of what a coach wants as a player, leader, and person," said head coach
Steve Greene. "She continues to improve as an attacker and can get kills in so many different ways. This milestone is one of many that Kyndal will hit in her career as an Islander."
With the offensive prowess from Payne, the Islanders (7-8, 2-1 SLC) turned in their second-best clip of the season with a .376. Sophomore
Rylee Achtzehn contributed greatly with 13 kills at a .545 mark, her second consecutive double figure kill performance. Also hitting above .500 was junior
Leah Stolfus who converted on nine of her 13 attempts (.538).
The Islanders out-killed the Cardinals (8-7, 0-3 SLC) in every set for a 55-34 final edge.
"UIW has some very talented players and are well-coached. We knew that coming in and stayed focused on each point. Our whole team did an awesome job of staying focused start to finish. The bench did outstanding giving feedback and providing energy to our team throughout the match," Greene said.
Running the high efficiency offense was graduate
Belle Morgan with 44 assists, her most assists in a three-set match this year. In addition, she scored on five of her 13 kill attempts as well as tallying seven digs.
She has been the match-leader in assists in all three conference matchups and the last four straight matches.
"Belle was playing at such a high-level tonight. Her confidence was high, and she was in control of our offense all match long. I am really proud of her performance tonight as it really showed what all her hard work can produce on the court," said Greene.
The Islanders also held a 53-31 dig advantage over UIW with sophomore
Zoria Heard leading the match with 13. Sophomore
Kendall Mahaney added eight while junior
Kayla White helped cover the floor with six digs.
Mahaney and Morgan also dropped in a pair of aces each to add to the A&M-Corpus Christi barrage from the service line.
Prior to the match, the Islanders led the conference in opponent assists/set (10.88), opponent kills/set (12.27), opponent service aces (63), and opponent digs/set (13.94). They improved in all, holding UIW to 31 assists, 34 kills, and 33 digs in the three-set match.
The Islanders have not dropped a match to UIW since 2000, extending their streak over the Cardinals to 18 consecutive wins.
A&M-Corpus Christi will continue on the road to HCU Thursday for a matchup at 6:30 p.m. The Islanders will then return home Saturday to host McNeese at 1 p.m. to close out the three-match conference week.
Stay Social
For more information on Islanders Volleyball, follow the team on Twitter (
@IslandersVB), Instagram (
@islandersvb) and like their Facebook page (
Islanders Volleyball).
#ShakasUp
