CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – No set was decided by more than four points Saturday but the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team came up short each time, falling to Southeastern 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-21) in the Dugan Wellness Center.
A&M-Corpus Christi (7-13, 3-5 SLC) had chances late in all three frames, after an early pace in the first set with a flurry of early kills from senior
Katelyn Krienke and junior
Kenna Buchanan. The Islanders erased a 24-21 deficit with three straight points, including a clutch service ace by freshman
Simone Grieser to tie it at 24-all before Southeastern edged out the final two rallies.
The Islanders came out fast again in the second, jumping ahead 2-0 on a
Tatum Mason kill before the Lady Lions took momentum through the media timeout. A late 4-0 push by the Islanders put them within two at 23-21, and Mason's fourth kill of the set kept A&M-Corpus Christi within striking distance before Southeastern closed it out.
Set three followed a similar script, with the Islanders seeing an early start behind a balanced attack. Buchanan and
Jaeda Rawls-Fletcher combined for early kills, while
Kaitlyn Baumann and Krienke added answers at the net to keep the score tight through the midway point. Another surge by SLU created separation at 20-14, but the Islanders continued to swing aggressively until the match ended with the Lady Lions up just 25-21.
Krienke and Mason led the Islanders' attacking effort with nine kills apiece, while Buchanan and Rawls-Fletcher each added seven.
Virginia Van Der Werff orchestrated the offense with 37 assists, and libero
Brooklyn Jaeger anchored the defense with 21 digs, the third time this year she recorded 20+ digs in a three-set match.
The Islanders will get back on the road for their next three matches, heading to Nicolls and McNeese before rounding back to UTRGV. They will return home Nov. 1 with a rematch against the Vaqueros.
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