EDINBURG, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team couldn't bring yesterday's momentum into the match with San Francisco, falling 3-0 (23-25, 11-25, 11-25) Saturday to finish its weekend in the UTRGV Tournament.
It was a stark difference from A&M-Corpus Christi's (4-4) 3-1 victory over Texas Tech just the day before for the program's first ever victory over a Power Four/Five opponent. It was a tight race to the finish in the first set, with San Francisco (5-4) just edging the Islanders for the 1-0 lead. Sets two and three then saw only the Dons able to fully convert for the final 3-0 match score.
Coming out of it with the milestone was junior Rylee Achztehn, who reached the 500-career kill mark following her first attack of the match. She finished with eight kills on the day, taking her career total to 507 now.
She also ended her milestone match as the team lead in kills, tying senior
Kyndal Payne as each put down eight apiece.
Other than the two outside hitters, A&M-Corpus Christi's offense struggled to produce against a San Francisco team that was making limited errors. After a back-and-forth affair in the first where the Islanders just couldn't close, the Dons hit over .480 in both sets two and three to finish the day.
Graduate
Alex Hoglund still finished with 22 assists and neared a double-double with eight digs. She trailed senior
Kayla White who once again spearheaded the defense with 12 digs in the match. She has recorded 10+ digs in six of the eight matches this season so far.
"Consistency is key for long term and sustained success," said head coach
Steve Greene. "We have been steadily improving each practice and each match before today. Unfortunately, we didn't put forth our best effort and work together to make changes today. Each set provided opportunities to turn things around, but we weren't able to shift our focus enough to make it happen."
The Islanders will look to shake off today and return to the court next weekend in El Paso to take on Texas State and host UTEP Friday and Saturday.
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