COMMERCE, Texas — The Texas A&M–Corpus Christi volleyball team saw its postseason run come to an end Saturday, falling to No. 2 UTRGV in three sets (25-17, 25-22, 25-16) in the Southland Conference Tournament semifinals.
In an effort to repeat the tournament title after securing the automatic bid to the NCAAs last year, the Islanders had advanced to the semifinal round after sweeping No. 3 seed Southeastern on Friday but were unable to slow the Vaqueros' today. It is the first time since 2017 that the Islanders allowed a team to hit over .300 against them during the conference tournament.
The Islanders found their strongest rhythm in the second closing within 23-21 late, but a final Vaquero run sealed the match. A&M–Corpus Christi finished the afternoon ultimately held to a .152 hitting clip which couldn't combat UTRGV's .420 mark.
Kaitlyn Baumann led the Islanders with seven kills on .500 hitting. The trio of
Katelyn Krienke,
Kenna Buchanan, and
Tatum Mason all finished with six kills apiece.
Virginia Van Der Werff put up 29 assist and three aces while
Brooklyn Jaeger anchored the back row with 12 digs.
Jaeger, the SLC Libero of the Year, ends the year on a 25-game streak of recording 10+ digs. She reached that mark in all but two matches this year, finishing with a 5.18 average which currently ranks top-10 in the nation. She is the ninth player in program history to finish a season averaging over 5.00 digs/set with her mark ranking seventh overall in the record book.
Van Der Werff finished the season averaging 10.40 assists/set, the eighth setter in program history to finish with a double-figure average. Her season average and total assist mark (1,144) ranks her seventh all-time in the program for both categories.
Mason ended with a team-high .341 hitting percentage on the year, which also etches her into the record book at eighth all-time for a single-season hitting mark.
The season also wraps up head coach
Steve Greene's 10
th season at the helm. In the decade he's led the Islanders, he has become the program's all-time winningest head coach which has been padded by six championships. This was the eighth year he has guided the Islanders to at least the semifinals match of the conference tournament including five trips to the finals and four Championship Titles.
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