KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville showed off a strong offense Tuesday night at Kingsville Hampton Inn Court in a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-20) sweep of Incarnate Word hitting .286 in the match including a .485 in the second set.
With their second-straight win in the Lone Star Conference, the Javelinas moved to 8-7 overall on the year and 2-5 in the league. The Cardinals dropped to 6-9 on the year and are now 3-4 in the LSC.
Freshman Kelsee Felux led the way for the Javelinas with 11 kills. Dedra Brown and Kelsey Washington each had nine kills. Washington just missed a double-double in the match as she had a team-high 11 digs and recorded a season-high five aces. Sarah Fountain, who had four kills with no errors in seven attempts, had 31 assists in three sets for over 10 assists a set.
Beth Soukup led the visitors who hit .175 in the match with eight kills. Setter Danielle Suarez had 16 assists and seven digs, while Lydia Werchan had a match-high 14 digs.
In the opening set, a 6-0 run by the Javelinas broke open a 10-8 set. Kingsville had three sets by Felux with a kill and ace by Washington. UIW would get not close than four points at 17-13 the rest of the match.
In the second set, the score was tight throughout. Bethany Friesenhahn’s kill at 20-19 gave the serve back to the Javelinas. Washington then recorded back-to-back aces to key a 5-1 run.
The third set was also tight with the score knotted at 18 before another late run by Kingsville. After a Taylor McClelland serving error, Fountain added an ace of her own. Two kills by Stephanie Johns pushed the score to 23-20 before Felux’s 11th kill. The match ended on an attack error by the visitors.
The Javelinas return to action on Friday night as they host Eastern New Mexico in Kleberg Bank Pack the House Night at 7 p.m. On Saturday, they face 7th-ranked West Texas A&M.