HAMMOND, La. – Attacking on all cylinders and never letting up, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team eased to a 3-0 sweep (25-15, 25-11, 25-19) over seventh-seeded Lamar Friday in the Southland Conference quarterfinals.
With a blistering .484 hitting percentage from a well-organized offense, the No. 2 Islanders (18-10) spread their attack in an effort that Lamar (15-14) couldn't combat giving just a .187 clip on the day.
The Islanders are getting hot at the right time, as the hitting efficiency is a season-best for the team. It comes after they ended the regular season with a program-high 79 kills and 78 assists in a four-set match in addition to four Islanders setting new career-highs then.
Graduate
Alex Hoglund ran that offense with an astounding 48 assists averaging out to 16.00 assists/set. Comparative to the national individual highs, her 48 assists ranks tied for seventh in the country for assists in a three-set match this year.
She was one assist shy of matching the program record for assists in a three-set match, set all the way back in 2007.
Those four Islanders in double figures were none other than seniors
Kyndal Payne (12),
Tori Arrington (12),
Leah Stolfus (11), and
Rylee Achtzehn (10). Combined, they only committed seven errors to nearly all hit above .500.
The Islanders are 7-1 this year when the trio of Payne, Arrington, and Stolfus each record 10+ kills in a match. It is the second time all four ended a match in double figures, with the first instance coming in the regular season finale making it a two-match streak for it to happen.
Redshirt freshman
Brooklyn Jaeger picked up roughly five digs a set to end with 15 on the day, her 11
th consecutive match to record 10+ digs. She led the match as the only player to end in double figures defensively.
It was the first time the teams had ever faced off in a postseason matchup, however, A&M-Corpus Christi improves to 21-13 all-time over Lamar and has not dropped a decision to the Cardinals since 2011.
The Islanders now advance to the semifinals to take on No. 3 SFA Saturday at 2 p.m. It will be A&M-Corpus Christi's 11
th trip to a semifinal, holding a 6-4 record in the penultimate round of the SLC Tournament.
A&M-Corpus Christi is 15-7 all-time in conference tournament matches.
SLC Semifinals // No. 2 A&M-Corpus Christi vs. No. 3 SFA
Date: Saturday, November 23
Time: 2 p.m. CT
Location: University Center // Hammond, LA
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