EDINBURG, Texas - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team returned to play today against UTRGV for the second time in three days. The Islanders took down the Vaqueros at home 3-0 on Thursday night but couldn't complete the season sweep in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, as they fell on the road 3-1 this afternoon. The Islanders fall to 8-15 overall and 6-6 in Southland Conference play.
The first set was deja vu from Thursday night as the Islanders played their best volleyball and dominated the opening set. They hit .356 as a team, led by
Kenna Buchanan, who had eight kills in the set. She moved past the 500 career kill mark as an Islander, as they cruised to a 25-16 set win.
The home side jumped out to an 8-2 lead just like they did during the match in Corpus Christi, however, the Islanders were unable to battle all the way back as UTRGV took the set 25-21.
Kaitlyn Aleshire led the Islanders with four kills, but the Vaqueros hit over .360 as a team in the set.
UTRGV controlled the final two sets, as they never trailed on the way to winning the third 25-16 and the fourth 25-18. After a career-high 12 kills against UTRGV at home on Thursday night,
Tatum Mason matched that number again today as she had five kills in the third and fourth set.
Buchanan was unstoppable early, but the Vaqueros turned their attention to her as the match went on and held her to five kills in the final three sets.
Virginia Van Der Werff finished with 35 assists for Corpus Christi, but UTRGV did a good job against her attacks as she was held without a kill for the first time in conference play this season.
The Islanders return home for their final two regular season matches of the season this week. They host Northwestern State on Thursday night and East Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon as they look to secure the best seed for the SLC Tournament.
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