HOUSTON, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team took the first set and pushed Houston Christian to the brink in the fourth before ultimately falling 3–1 (25-21, 17-25, 20-25, 24–26) at Sharp Gym.
The Islanders (6–11, 2–3 SLC) used a balanced attack to open the match strong, riding early kills from freshman
Logan Dyer, freshman
Tatum Mason, and junior
Kenna Buchanan to a quick lead. A&M-Corpus Christi capitalized on HCU miscues to stretch the margin to 20–16, then closed the frame behind a blowing kill from Mason for the 25–21 win.
Houston Christian (10–8, 5–0 SLC) regrouped in the second set, but the Islanders kept pace early thanks to steady distribution from sophomore
Virginia Van Der Werff and strong defensive work from redshirt sophomore
Brooklyn Jaeger, who finished with 20 digs. Mason posted a kill following by Buchanan's solo stuff midway through the set to pull the Islanders even at 11-all before the Huskies pulled away late to even the match.
The third set saw the Islanders' offense click again as Mason and senior
Kaitlyn Baumann each delivered key swings to keep A&M-Corpus Christi within striking distance. Mason's back-to-back kills brought the score to 6–4 early, and senior
Katelyn Krienke's kill later in the frame trimmed a deficit to 15-17. Despite the surge, HCU held on for a 25–20 win.
The Islanders refused to back down in the fourth, trading points throughout a thrilling frame that featured 17 ties and eight lead changes. Freshman
Hadley Burger came off for several clutch kills with five in the set. A&M-Corpus Christi erased a late 23–21 deficit to go up 24-23 following Baumann's denial before the Huskies escaped with three final kills to seal the match.
Buchanan finished with a team-high 13 kills on .313 hitting, while Van Der Werff dished out 41 assists and added four kills. Jaeger anchored the defense, and Krienke and Mason chipped in nine kills each.
The Islanders carry on their road trip to UIW for a Saturday matchup at 1 p.m. in San Antonio.
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