CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team earned arguably its best result of the season as they took down UTRGV in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union. The Islanders swept the first place Vaqueros in a 3-0 victory to take their Southland Conference record back over .500 as they move to 6-5 in league play.
The Islanders entered tonight in a tie for fifth place in the conference with six games remaining, with the closing stretch being critical for the seeding in the SLC Tournament. The Islanders came out of the gates with an intensity that matched the occasion tonight as they jumped on top of the Vaqueros on their way to a 25-14 first-set victory. They hit .448 in the set as they finished with 16 kills as a team. Six Islanders recorded a kill in the set, led by
Ally Saleh, who had four as the home side was firing on all cylinders early.Â
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UTRGV bounced back quickly in the second set, looking to even and turn the tied of the match they jumped out to an 8-1 lead. Corpus Christi slowly chipped away and got themselves back in the set, but the Vaqueros still looked to be in control up, 21-15. However, the Islanders rattled off nine of the next ten points and earned a come-from-behind second-set victory 25-23. They outhit UTRGV .207-.069 as
Kenna Buchanan and
Tatum Mason each had three kills.
The third set was back and forth early, with the Islanders inching ahead. UTRGV tied the set up 15-15, but the Islanders responded with the next five points. The two sides traded side outs down the stretch, which was enough for the Islanders to capture a 25-22 clinching set win. They hit .296 in the final set, led by Mason, who had six of her match-high 12 in the final set.Â
Virginia Van Der Werff finished with five kills and 30 assists on the night, while
Lauren Sandvold had a team-high 12 digs. The performance by the sophomore Mason set a new career-high in kills with 12, while as a team they were able to hold UTRGVÂ to their worst-hitting match in SLC play at .124.
The two sides will see each other in a couple of days, as the Islanders make the return trip to Edinburg on Saturday. The match is set for noon as they look to get their second win at UTRGV since 2021.
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