CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Texas A&M Corpus Christi volleyball team hosted Houston Christian this morning in Southland inside the Dugan Wellness Center. The Islanders cruised to a 3-0 (25-22,25-22, 25-23) victory to move to 5-9 overall on the year and 3-0 in conference play.
The Islanders captured their third-straight win behind the loud Education Day crowd and their second-best team hitting percentage of the season of .323. TAMUCC had a season-low 10 hitting errors against the Huskies while HCU doubled that total with 20 errors.Â
Houston Christian jumped out to an early lead in the opening set, 7-3, but the Islanders battled back to tie the set 9-9. Four different Islanders led the team with three kills in the opening set:
Kenna Buchanan,
Erin Herrmann,
Hadley Burger, and
Kaitlyn Aleshire. The home side served aggressively as they had three aces but also four services errors early. TAMUCC continued their strong play as they took a 15-12 lead at the media timeout. As the Islanders looked to close out the opening set, Buchanan and Berger each recorded kills to secure the first set, 25-22.
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The Islanders had their best hitting percentage of the match in the second set as they hit .385. After falling behind early again, TAMUCCÂ won five of six points to tie the set at 14. Their momentum continued out of the media timeout, winning six of the next seven points.
Tatum Mason had three kills in the set, but the Islanders ran their offensive attack through Aleshire, as she had five kills in seven attacking chances, including the set-clinching point, 25-22, for the second straight set.
Like the two sets before, the two sides played a back-and-forth set in the third. It wasn't until after the media timeout that the home side pulled away by winning six of the next seven points. The Islanders hit .333 as a team in the final set and rode Buchanan to the finish line as she had nine of her match-high 13 kills in the third.
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Ava Hight and
Virginia Van Der Werff continued to split duties in the setter rotation, as the duo finished with 21 and 17 assists, respectively. Behind Buchanan, Burger and Aleshire each finished with eight kills in the match. The eight kills for Aleshire are her most so far through conference play this season. The Islanders finished by hitting .323 as a team and held Houston Christian to .214. TAMUCC finished with four players who hit over .375 in the match as they remain atop the Southland.
The Islanders remain home and are back in action this weekend as they look to stay perfect in league play. They host Incarnate Word this Saturday at 1 p.m. for Family Weekend and the Alumni Appreciation game. UIW is 2-1 in conference play after dropping their first match against UTRGV today.
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