NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – The Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team had a busy day on Saturday as they played three non-conference matches on the campus of Loyola University. They defeated Huston-Tillotson and host Loyola in three sets and lost to Missouri Baptist in three sets.

The Javelinas (10-8) opened the tournament with a 25-8, 25-13, 25-18 win over HTU. It was the second win over the Rams this season. The Hoggies posted a .386 attack percentage for the match as Lakeshia Craft (Pflugerville/Connally HS) had seven kills in eight chances and Bethany Friesenhahn (Poth/Poth HS) had six kills in eight chances. Freshmen Kelsey Washington (Cuero/Cuero HS) and Stephanie Johns (Lubbock/Coronado HS) led the team with 10 kills apiece. Giselle Carreon (Corpus Christi/Carroll HS) dished out 18 assists.

The Javs followed that win with a close 28-26, 25-21, 25-20 loss to Missouri Baptist. The Javs attacked well with 39 kills and a .234 attack percentage, but they could not match MBU as they had 49 kills and a .287 attack percentage.

Craft had another outstanding match for the Javelinas with 11 kills, four blocks and a .455 attack percentage while Sondra Cui (Schertz/Steele HS) posted a double-double with 32 assists and 10 digs.

In the final match of the day, the Hoggies topped Loyola 25-21, 25-14, 25-19 to cap off a long day of volleyball. Cui directed a strong attack with a season high 41 assists leading to a .269 team attack percentage. Craft added a third straight excellent performance with 11 kills, two blocks and a .625 attack percentage. Johns led the team with 12 kills. Defensively, Ali Insell (The Woodlands/The Woodlands HS) had 17 digs and Kalinda Graves (Amarillo/Palo Duro HS) added 13 digs. Friesenhahn led the team with six blocks.

The Javelinas will remain on the road for their Tuesday match at Lone Star Conference rival Abilene Christian before returning home on Thursday night against Eastern New Mexico at 7 p.m.
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