MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team dropped a heartbreaker in its final match of the K-State Invitational on Saturday afternoon, nearly completing an incredible comeback but falling in a decisive fifth set to Campbell, 10-25, 23-25, 30-28, 25-14, 12-15.
 
In a quick turnaround after their season opener against hosts Kansas State on Friday evening, the Islanders (0-2) were blitzed out of the gates by a Camels (1-0) squad playing its first match of the year, surrendering a nine-point run after the first kill of the day by Ally Saleh that put them in catch-up mode very early on. They did manage to string together four consecutive points near the end of the set on a service error, a block from Sydney Yohe and back-to-back kills by Virginia Van Der Werff and Logan Dyer, but it proved to be too late to mount a real comeback.
 
The next set ended up being a much more competitive one, and it began with A&M-Corpus Christi flipping the script, logging four of the first five points on a Van Der Werff ace, a pair of kills from Tatum Mason and one more from Saleh. From here, the action ended up going back-and-forth, with the two teams playing to nine different tied scores and remaining within three points of each other the rest of the way. Two late kills from Van Der Werff placed the Islanders up by a count of 23-22, but Campbell responded by taking each of the final three points, putting the blue and green down in the set count 2-0.
 
Now staring at a long climb back, the Islanders came out in the third set much better, jumping out to a 9-4 lead thanks to kills from Mason, Saleh, Yohe and Kaitlyn Aleshire and aces from Mason and Brooklyn Jaeger. A six-point run from the Camels erased this cushion and set up another tight race, though, with the two trading the lead a whopping nine times and going all the way past the 25-point mark. A&M-Corpus Christi was actually pushed to match point at 28-27, but the team was able to dig deep and find the points they needed, ripping off three in a row on an attack error, a Kenna Buchanan kill and a tandem block from Van Der Werff and Abby Huddleston to keep the afternoon going.
 
This tightrope act seemingly brought some new life to the Islanders, as they were able to parlay it into a fantastic start to set No. 4, ripping off five points in a row after surrendering the first and riding this wave all the way to a double-digit win in the set for their most impressive showing in the new season. This period was easily their most efficient on the attack, racking up nine kills in 20 total attacks while committing just one error for a hitting percentage of .400. On the individual level, Aleshire led the way with four kills all by herself, and Saleh and Van Der Werff both tallied two apiece.
 
The afternoon would then culminate in the fifth and final set, where A&M-Corpus Christi fell behind 7-1, necessitating another climb out of a hole. Like earlier, the team fought back valiantly, shaking off the tough start and piecing together a 6-0 run led by Mason and Aleshire to tie things back up at nine each. This stalemate lasted all the way up until 12 apiece, but unfortunately, for the Islanders, Campbell tallied the last three points to seal the deal and send them home with the tough defeat.
 
The final stat sheet reflected the action on the court, as the Islanders came in just behind the Camels in kills, blocks and assists while finishing level in total digs at 59. Individually, Saleh, Aleshire and Mason all got over double figures in kills, and Jaeger led all players in digs with 21.
 
The Islanders will now return to Corpus Christi for their first taste of action on their home court, hosting UTEP, UTRGV and Texas State at the Dugan Wellness Center next Thursday through Saturday for the Islanders Classic.
 
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