HAMMOND, La. - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team faced its toughest challenge of the season in Southland Conference play today as they were on the road at first place Southeastern Louisiana. The Islanders hung tight with the Lions, including taking the second set, but fell 3-1 (25-23,17-25,25-20,25-16) to drop their record to 7-14 overall and 5-5 in SLC play.
Coming off a sweep at LSU New Orleans, the Islanders faced a SLU side riding an eight game conference winning streak. The Lions defeated UTRGV in their previous match to move atop the league with an 8-1 conference record.
Virginia Van Der Werff passed the 1,500 career assist mark today, as the junior has the eighth most assists in school history.
The Islanders showed up to play and led for the majority of the opening set.
Kenna Buchanan had four early kills to build the Islanders' lead while
Erin Herrmann and
Tatum Mason each added three. The home side crept back into the set, but Corpus Christi still led 22-21 late, but the home side closed the set and took it 25-23.
Despite dropping the first set, the Islanders played their best set of the match in the second. They hit nearly .400 in the set, as six different players recorded a kill. Herrmann, Mason, and
Ally Saleh each had four kills while Corpus Christi also added three service aces. They scored five straight points in the middle of the set to go up 13-8 and never looked back as they dominated the Lions in the set, taking it 25-17.
The third set was similar to the first in that the Islanders jumped up early as they rode the momentum from their second set performance. As the set went on, however, the Lions chipped away and ended up winning the set 25-20 after it was tied 16-16. The final set was all SLU as they jumped out to an early lead and kept the Islanders at an arms distance before closing the match with a 25-16 fourth-set win.
Six Islanders had a kill in the match, led by Buchanan and Mason who each had 12. Herrmann finished in double digits with ten kills while Saleh had nine and
Kaitlyn Aleshire finished with six. Van Der Werff continued her strong setter play as she flirted with a triple-double, finishing with eight kills, ten digs, and 42 assists. SLU had just one more kill in the match than TAMUCC, 58-57, and the two sides had practically the same hitting percentage, .304-.299, but the Lions prevailed 3-1.
The Islanders are back home on Thursday night as they host UTRGV for the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union. The Vaqueros are tied atop the SLC standings with a 12-8 overall and 8-1 in the league, entering today.
