SAN ANTONIO – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team fell in their final match of the regular season on Saturday afternoon, going on the road and dropping to UIW by a final of 3-0 (16-25, 21-25, 20-25).
 
The loss gave the Islanders a final record of 10-17 overall while improving to a mark of 8-8 in conference play. Having already clinched their spot in the Southland Conference Volleyball Championship after their five-set win over HCU on Thursday, their final seed will be determined based on the rest of the results throughout the final matchday of the season.
 
In Saturday's match, A&M-Corpus Christi found itself playing from behind in the opening set, getting off to a slow start and falling into an 8-3 hole early on. Three straight attack errors helped steady the blue and green, and after another Cardinals (16-9, 14-2 SLC) run, they got back to within four after kills from Sydney Yohe, Lauren Sandvold and Kenna Buchanan. After this, however, UIW found its stride again, ending the first period with nine of the final 13 points to take the set advantage.
 
The beginning of the second set was much better for the Islanders, as they ripped off the first seven points to take a commanding lead. This stretch was led by three kills by Ally Saleh, which were supplemented by an ace from Ava Hight and a kill by Kaitlyn Aleshire to cap off the run. Now playing out in front for the first time on the day, the visitors saw the Cardinals slowly start to chip away, inching closer until finally tying things up at 18 apiece. A kill from Buchanan put A&M-Corpus Christi back in front, but the hosts again closed things out on fire, scoring seven of the final nine points to earn the win in the set by a mark of 25-21.
 
Now needing a big bounce back, the Islanders went blow for blow with the Cardinals in the third, playing even through the first 12 points. UIW started to create some distance from here, but A&M-Corpus Christi responded very nicely, piecing together a 7-2 run on two kills from Tatum Mason, one each by Saleh and Hadley Burger and an ace from Buchanan to turn a six-point deficit into just one at 19-18. Much like the first two sets, though, the team could not close things out, giving up a 6-2 run on the other side to fall in straight sets.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi was led in kills by Mason with eight, who was followed closely behind by Saleh with six. Virginia Van Der Werff logged a match-high 21 assists, while Sandvold paced the team on the backline with 12 digs. Kaitlyn Aleshire also helped toward the defensive effort, leading all players with four total blocks.
 
The Islanders will now wait to see who their opponent will be in the first round of the conference tournament, which will kick off on their home court at the Dugan Wellness Center on Friday, November 20.
 
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