CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team handed Jacksonville State its first loss of the season in sweeping fashion Friday night, taking down the previously undefeated team 25-15, 27-25, and 25-22 in the second match of the Islanders Classic, sponsored by Schlotzsky's.
The Islanders (2-3) have now won two in a row to remain undefeated in their home tournament after topping North Florida 3-2 the night before. Tonight's victory came after a momentum-building first set that featured a 12-0 scoring run right out of the media break. After being down 15-13 at the timeout, the Islanders got the side out and never slowed down as senior
Kyndal Payne served the whole run to shut the Gamecocks the rest of the way.
Sets two and three were more of a back-and-forth, but the Islanders didn't hit lower than .300 in either for the eventual edge in both. The team finished hitting a .328 on the night, the season-high. It is the first time the Islanders hit between .300-.399 in a match since Oct. 26, 2023 at HCU (.326).
Graduate
Alex Hoglund ran the high-efficiency offense, recording her career-high of 44 assists. She beat out her previous best of 39, set while at the University of San Diego against Northwestern on August 27, 2023.
Also finding success on the offensive end was junior
Tori Arrington who matched her career-high kills with 14 on the night, first reached at UTRGV last season on Sept. 5. She led the match with the 14 kills and was joined in double figures by Payne (12) and senior
Leah Stolfus (10).
It is the second match in a row that those three all recorded 10+ kills.
Defensively, freshman
Hadley Burger settled into a new role on the back line and ended as the team-leader in digs with 12 in her first career double-digit dig performance. Payne also picked up 10 digs to record her third double-double of the year and second in a row.
It marks A&M-Corpus Christi's first sweep since they defeated McNeese in three during the semifinal match in the 2023 Southland Conference Tournament. The Islanders now take a 2-1 edge in the all-time series with Jacksonville State, with every meeting ending in sweeps. It was the first time the two played in Corpus Christi and was the first head-to-head since 2003.
The Islanders will look out to close their home tournament strong when they face Texas Southern tomorrow at 2 p.m. to finish out the weekend.
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