CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team had a warm welcome home after playing on the road for the last month, coming back to a sold-out Dugan Wellness Center where they showed out with a straight set victory (25-15, 25-14, 25-18) over Lamar Saturday.
The Islanders (6-8, 1-2 SLC) turned in their best hitting of the year with a .430 team percentage, making a minimal five errors through the three-set win against Lamar (10-6, 2-2 SLC) in their home conference opener. It came in front of 1,230 strong as the Islanders put on a show for the sell out.
It included a pair of .500+ hitting performances in sets two and three, with the second set featuring a .517 mark after the Islanders went errorless off 29 attempts.
Senior
Kyndal Payne contributed her career-high hitting percentage to the match, turning in a .667 on the day with the match-high 15 kills. She made just one error through her 21 attempts and came away with the double-double to top off the day with 12 digs.
She is on a hot streak, coming off a performance at Prairie View that previously accounted for the team's season-best kill count in a three-set match by matching that today. It is her ninth double figure kill performance of the season and fifth in a row. She has recorded a double-double nine times so far including in each of the last five matches.
Payne was one of four Islanders to hit above .350 off 10+ attacks, including junior
Tori Arrington who hammered in 12 kills off 27 attempts for a .370 clip. Senior
Leah Stolfus converted on nine of her 17 tries for a .412 hitting day while junior Rylee Achztehn went errorless for an even .500 with five kills.
Graduate
Alex Hoglund ran the offense to its high efficiency with 36 assists. After building cushion through each set, freshmen setters
Ella Pallagi and
Virginia Van Der Werff also got in for some reps.
A&M-Corpus Christi's defense held Lamar to just a .110 clip, outblocking the Cardinals 4-1 and picking up 52 digs compared to their 37. Payne was matched by junior
Kendall Mahaney as team-leader in digs with 12.
The Islanders now lead Lamar 21-13 in the all-time series, winning the last 19 meetings straight to have not dropped a decision to the Cardinals since 2011 with the last three victories coming in sweeps. Additionally, A&M-Corpus Christi hasn't lost to Lamar at home since the 2009 season.
Next up, the Islanders will have a busy three-match week next week starting with a road match at UTRGV Tuesday before continuing at home Thursday and Saturday.
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