SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – A trip to the Alamo City Classic figured to provide tough competition for the Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team, but how tough would be the question. 
Unfortunately for the Javelinas (0-4), the competition proved to be too much for the young squad led by second year head coach Shannon Alvarado.  The Javelinas lost to Southwest Baptist (25-19, 25-18, 25-14) and Incarnate Word (25-21, 25-23, 25-21) on Friday.  On Saturday, the team fell to Western New Mexico (19-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-15) and Trinity University (25-21, 16-25, 25-23, 25-21).
In the opening match against Southwest Baptist, the Javelinas struggled on the attack with a .111 percentage.  Senior Shaday Smith (Houston/Jones HS) was the team’s top threat with eight kills and a .208 attack.  Sophomore Virginia Hernandez (Katy/Katy HS) led the squad with nine digs while junior Kirby Krueger (New Braunfels/Canyon HS) tallied nine assists.  SW Baptist had a .356 attack led by Rachel Sawyer and Kinsey Palmer who combined for 20 kills and just two attack errors.  Palmer and Brianna Wallace each had double-doubles for the victors.
The Javs played much better against Incarnate Word, but could not break through to win a set.  Sophomore Sha Tramble (Houston/Clear Brook HS), last year’s Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year, led the team with 12 kills and a .579 attack.  Junior Kristin Chancellor (Bellville/Bellville HS) chipped in with 10 kills and three blocks while Krueger dished off 25 assists.  The Cardinals were just a little bit better overall with a better attack percentage and fewer errors.  Edie Weise led UIW with 12 kills and a .526 attack.
On Saturday, the Javelinas started well winning the first set against Western New Mexico, but then the Mustangs stepped up their game to get the win.  Once again, Tramble led A&M-Kingsville with 12 kills and 18 digs for her first double-double of the season.  Chancellor provided nine kills, a .533 attack and four service aces.  Junior Tara Grier (Poth/Poth HS) and Hernandez each had 13 digs while Krueger led the way with 28 assists.  Natali Murdock and Tirzah Lindgren combined for 37 of the Mustangs’ 52 kills while Ellen East had 28 assists and 12 digs.
In the final match of the event, the Javelinas split the first two sets with Trinity before losing the final two sets by a combined six points.  Tramble fired off a season high 16 kills and added 17 digs.  Krueger recorded a double-double with 28 assists and 16 digs.  Hernandez played excellent defense with 23 digs.  Chancellor led the squad with five blocks.  Trinity had three players record double figure kill totals while Caroline Keener had 48 assists and 16 digs.
The Javelinas look for their first win of the season on Wednesday night at 7 o’clock when they travel to University of St. Thomas in Houston.
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