CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team won in straight-set fashion for the fifth match in a row as another pair of milestones were reached in a 3-0 victory (25-15, 25-21, 25-15) over McNeese Saturday in the Dugan Wellness Center.
The Islanders (13-8, 8-2 SLC) extended their winning streak to nine straight including eight consecutive wins in conference play. They remain a perfect 8-0 at home this year following their fifth straight sweep after taking down the Cowgirls (7-15, 3-7) in three. It included a 7-0 scoring run to comeback in the second set from being behind 21-18.
A&M-Corpus Christi's offense has continued to soar, hitting .330 on the day. They have hit above .300 in three of their last four matches and improve to 13-1 this year when hitting above .200. Defensively, it is A&M-Corpus Christi's ninth opponent to be held to under a .200 hitting percentage and second to be held under a .100 (.067).
Graduate
Alex Hoglund ran that offense with 37 assists on the day in addition to going 4-for-8 in attacks for a .500 hitting clip herself. She also added seven digs and two service aces to her stat line.
Senior
Kyndal Payne ended the day with a match-leading 12 kills to push her past the 1,500-career kill milestone. It is her second milestone reached in the last two matches after surpassing 1,000 digs during Thursday's win over Nicholls. She also became the program's career leader earlier this month.
She finished with 11 digs to record her 12
th double-double of the year and sixth in conference play.
Senior
Rylee Achtzehn also reached a milestone, recording her 100
th career block off a one-on-one denial in the second set. She paired her milestone with four kills on the day.
Junior
Tori Arrington joined Payne in double figures with 10 kills herself. It marks her seventh 10+ kill performance of the year and fourth in league play this season. Senior
Leah Stolfus neared double figures with eight kills but went errorless through 19 attempts for a .421 hitting percentage.
The defense was picked up by senior
Kendall Mahaney who led the team with 15 digs. It is her ninth double figure dig match of the year and fifth in conference play. She was followed by Payne and sophomore
Brooklyn Jaeger's 11 digs. It is the sixth time this year that three Islanders recorded 10+ digs in the same match.
The Islanders improve to 21-6 all-time series over McNeese, and is 13-2 at home against the Cowgirls. The Islanders have not lost at home to the Cowgirls since 2008.
The Islanders will continue their home swing into next week, hosting UTRGV Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in another matchup of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, before hitting the road for another three starting next Saturday.
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