COMMERCE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team opened and closed strong against East Texas A&M, taking a 3-1 (25-15, 13-25, 25-22, 25-13) victory Thursday night.
The Islanders (11-16, 7-8 SLC) opened dominantly but slipped in the second frame before regaining control and overpowering the Lions in sets three and four to close out the win. It now ties A&M–Corpus Christi and East Texas A&M with HCU in the Southland standings with just one match remaining in the regular season in a fight for seeding at the SLC Tournament.
A&M–Corpus Christi looked sharp early, hitting .395 in the opening set. They wasted no time, opening the match on a 6–1 surge sparked by three early kills from freshman
Tatum Mason and an ace from sophomore
Hadley Burger. With sophomore
Virginia Van Der Werff distributing cleanly, A&M–Corpus Christi used the offensive barrage to cruise to a 25–15 win.
The second set saw East Texas A&M opening fast, jumping ahead 14–4 which the Islanders couldn't recover from.
The match would be broken of its tie in the third courtesy of the visiting squad despite the frame remaining tight through a 17-17 score. Timely swings from junior
Kenna Buchanan and senior
Kaitlyn Baumann allowed the Islanders to capitalize late and take the set 25–22.
Back in front and reenergized, the Islanders opened the fourth with a 3–0 start and quickly stretched the lead behind Rawls-Fletcher, who tallied several of her match-high 14 kills in the frame. A&M–Corpus Christi surged ahead 17–9 and never looked back as the ace by redshirt-sophomore
Brooklyn Jaeger set up the 25–13 win and the match.
The Islanders' defense kept East Texas A&M off balance for the majority of the match, holding the Lions to just a .175 clip. They were anchored by Jaeger who posted an astounding 31 digs, 10 more than the next best passer in the match.
Offensively, Rawls-Fletcher led the Islanders with 14 kills on .367 hitting, while Buchanan added 13 and Mason tallied 12 kills. Buchanan came away with the double-double with 12 digs, while Van Der Werff also notched the double-double in the form of 50 assists and 11 digs.
The Islanders will look to close out the regular season on a high note, heading to face Northwestern State for a Saturday matchup for a final tune up before the SLC Tournament Nov. 21-23.
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