CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team was downed in the final match of the Southwest Showdown, presented by Texas Army National Guard on Saturday afternoon, falling to Texas State in four sets, 12-25, 25-20, 18-25, 16-25.
 
As the finale to their own home tournament, the Islanders (0-4) did not get off to the start that they wanted against the Bobcats (3-1), falling behind early and seeing their deficit slowly grow as the opening set went on. The first few sequences were back-and-forth, with the hosts trading point early after kills from Ally Saleh and Sydney Yohe, but Texas State created separation for the first time with a four-point run to go up 8-3. An even bigger six-point swing came near the end of the period, which all but took things to the first break.
 
After giving up four of the first five points to open the second set, A&M-Corpus Christi finally found its first true spark of the day, ripping off five of the next six points on kills from Saleh, Kenna Buchanan and Kaitlyn Aleshire to take its first lead of the set. Another push and pull got going from here, but the Islanders started to create some space in the middle of the set, going up 15-11 on another four-point run powered by a Buchanan kill and a Hadley Burger service ace. The Bobcats did respond to this with a run of their own to tie things at 19, but the hosts turned on the gas right after, closing things out with five of the final six points to wrap up the 25-20 set win, their first of the day.
 
This victory rolled right into the third set, with the Islanders staying hot and jumping out to a 9-4 lead punctuated with three straight kills from Saleh. Unlike the set before, however, they could not keep things going after this, surrendering a 10-1 stretch to see their advantage quickly turn into a four-point deficit. Some attack errors on the other side kept their hopes alive after this, but they were promptly dashed by four straight from Texas State to wrap things up, putting their backs against the wall at a 2-1 set count.
 
Looking to turn the tides back in their favor, the Islanders did manage to hang close in the fourth, starting off well thanks to a balanced attack with kills from five different players. Like earlier, though, the Bobcats caught their stride as things went on, eventually going up 13-9 and using a late 5-0 run to take the match to its finish line.
 
For the second straight day, A&M-Corpus Christi was led by Buchanan and Hight, with the former pacing the team with 13 kills while pitching in six digs and the latter pacing the squad in assists with 39. The two were named to the Southwest Showdown All-Tournament team after the end of the final match, joining the Bobcats' Brook Bentke and India Bennett, UTEP's Lauren Perry and Hannah Crowe and UTRGV's Martina Franco and Ema Petkovic.
 
The Islanders will now head out on the road next week for another taste of tournament action, traveling to Stephenville for the Tarleton State Invitational as part of a field that includes Denver and Sam Houston along with the host Texans.
 
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