Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team dropped a pair of tough matches on Friday at the Chaps Classic. The Javelinas fell 3-1 to both Lubbock Christian and St. Mary's.
In the opening match against the host Chaps, Kingsville fell 25-20, 26-28, 25-23, and 25-21 despite 24 kills from senior Dedra Brown. It was the first match of the season with 20 kills for Brown, who had four a season ago. She missed her career-high for kills by one and hit .321 in the match. Kacey Deterding had a team-best 17 kills for the Chaps, while Amy Edwards and Abby White had 13 and 11, respectively.
Defenisvely, Kingsville had 86 digs led by Brittany Gutierrez with 18 digs and Kelsey Washington with 16. Kalani Giddens had 15 digs and Mariah Carlin had 11. Christa Daniel led the hosts with 31 digs.
After falling 25-20 in the first set, Kingsville battled back from a 10-5 deficit in game two taking a 12-11 lead with a 7-1 run. Washington led the charge with three straight kills. The Javelinas would build a 21-18 on an ace by Mariah Carlin but could not pull away as LCU fought off three set points.
The third set was tight as well. The Chaps again built an early lead at 9-4, but Kingsville battled back to knot the game at 14 on a Washington kill.
Kingsville stayed within two points and took a 22-21 lead on a kill by Sarah Fountain, who had 47 assists. However, a pair of attack errors stymied the Javelinas who were outscored 4-1 down the stretch.
In the decisive fourth set the sides were tied at 12 before LCU went on a 5-1 run and Kingsville could get not get closer than one on a Stephanie Johns kill that made it 22-21.
In their second match of the day, the Javelinas and St. Mary's were separated by three total points in their four-set battle. Kingsville won the opener 25-21, but lost the next three 25-23, 29-27 and 25-22.
Giddens and Washington led Kingsville with 18 and 18 kills respectively. Washington added 18 digs to finish with a double-double. Gutierrez added 17 digs and Fountain 10 to go with 51 assists.
At the net, Kingsville had nine blocks. Kayla McGlathery had three total blocks, while Johns had 2.5.
The Rattlers received 17 kills from Kelsey Huber and 13 from Holman. Victorria Martinez had 20 digs, while Rachael Scicchitano had 54. Holman added five total blocks and Melissa Heft three.
St. Mary's barely out-hit Kingsville .253 to .244.
After using a 7-0 run in the opening set to take an early 1-0 lead, Kingsville jumped out to a 13-7 lead in game two after a kill by Giddens. A block by Kayla McGlathery allowed the Javelinas to maintain a 19-15 lead.
St. Mary's answered with a 6-0 run for a 20-19 lead. The Hoggies could not reclaim the lead.
The third set was a see-saw battle with neither side leading by more than three points. The set was tied at 20 late and each side fought off set points before a Lauren Holman kill and attack error by Johns gave the Rattlers a 29-27 win.
In the final set, St. Mary's jumped out an early 8-1 lead. Kingsville chipped its way back into the set and used a 5-0 run to make it a 14-13 contest. The Javelinas could get no closer.
Kingsville will look to rebound on Saturday with matches against UT-Permian Basin at 9 a.m. and Texas A&M International at 1 p.m.