With their backs to the wall, the Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team rallied from down two games to one and 14-11 in game five to beat Eastern New Mexico for its first road win of the season. The Javelinas won for the fourth time in seven games beating the Zias 30-28, 16-30, 23-30, 30-19, 16-14.
Texas A&M-Kingsville improves to 7-18 overall and 3-5 in the Lone Star Conference while Eastern New Mexico falls to 6-12 and 1-6. The win also keeps the Javelinas hopes alive for a bid to the LSC Tournament.
Freshmen Adina Gray (Corpus Christi Flour Bluff) and Chelsea Zunker (New Braunfels Canyon) each had 12 kills while senior Kara Maughan (Corpus Christi King) added 10 kills.
Freshman Tara Grier (Poth) set a school record with 36 digs while Heidi Scheopner (Harlingen South) had 35 assists.
The Javelinas had a season-high 22 total blocks, 10 of those by senior Danielle Godfrey (Houston Crosby).
Down 14-9 in game five, Gray got a kill to cut the lead to 14-10 and gave the Javelinas the serve.
Junior Leslie Petros (Corpus Christi King) took over from there, serving six consecutive points, two of those coming on aces, for the victory. Maughan picked up three kills on Petros’ serve including the game-winning kill.
“Eastern is a tough place to play,” said Javelina head coach Jane Kieschnick. “Even in game one we played ugly. We didn’t play a good game until game four. We got a faster tempo and changed the lineup. We matched up Danielle (Godfrey) with their best hitter and she did a great job of blocking. It changed the momentum of the match. We didn’t play tentative, even when we were down in game five.”
After hitting a woeful .055 through the first three games, the Javelinas hit a combined .228 over the last two games.
“It took everybody to get this win. It’s big. We still have a chance to get in the LSC Tournament and this had to be the first game to create some momentum. It was a great character builder.”
The Javelinas will take on West Texas A&M in Canyon Saturday afternoon.
