PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team broke a five-match skid and got back in the winning column with a straight set sweep (25-16, 25-17, 25-16) at Prairie View A&M Thursday night in its nonconference finale.
The Islanders (5-8) notched their third sweep of the season, taking down Prairie View (6-12) in three sets to wrap up the nonconference slate. A&M-Corpus Christi improves to 21-1 in the all-time series and hasn't dropped a match to the Panthers since the 2000 season. Additionally, the Islanders are an undefeated 11-0 when playing at Prairie View.
The 51 kills and 66 digs on the night are the team's season highs in both through a three-set match.
"I'm so proud of how the team was able to stay focused, confident, and trust themselves and the coaching staff so that we could work together and come out with a great three-set win," said head coach
Steve Greene.
Senior
Kyndal Payne once again led the team with 15 kills, her 10
th match this year to be in double figures. She finished with her second-best hitting percentage this year at a .333 and also added 10 digs for the double-double, her eighth on the season and fourth in a row.
Her 15 kills is also a team-high in a three-set match this season.
Senior
Leah Stolfus also finished in double figures, tacking on 11 kills and also hit for her second-best of the year with a .476 after only making one error on 21 attempts. She continues to lead the squad with a .306 average this season. Freshman
Kaitlyn Baumann made her season best contribution, nailing down six kills off the bench from the middle position.
Junior
Kendall Mahaney led the team with 17 digs, her season best. It marked her third double figure performance of the year. Mahaney, Payne, and Stolfus all also accounted for one of the Islanders' three aces.
"Leah really showed how outstanding she is when she trusts herself and what she's capable of when she is focused and puts her mind to things. Kyndal did everything right at such a high level in the most critical moments tonight. When we lost a couple points in a row, she would step uo and make a great dig or perfect pass to get us going again. When a rally was out of sorts, she collected herself and took a big approach to cement a kill. Kendall played so calm and collected in serve receive and on defense. Her defense put us is so many quality transition situations. Kaitlyn came in and shined offensively. She's been consistently improving these last couple weeks and really showed moments of what she's capable of," said Greene.
Graduate
Alex Hoglund ran the offense to its .288 clip, assisting on 39 while also attacking for four kills herself. She also added six digs to her stat line.
The Islanders move to 5-0 on the year when outhitting their opponent and 5-1 when hitting above .200. The team's three best hitting percentages on the year have all come in three-set victories.
The Islanders will now make their way home after being on the road for nearly a month, continuing SLC play with a Saturday match against Lamar in the Dugan Wellness Center.
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