KINGSVILLE, Texas – Facing the 24th-ranked team in the nation Friday night in the Gil H. Steinke Physical Education Center-Kingsville Hampton Court, the Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team upset Angelo State 3-1 (25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22). The victory was the first for the Javelinas over the Rambelles since Sept. 18, 2008 and snapped a 10-match skid to them.
The Blue and Gold improved to 9-7 on the season and 2-3 in the Lone Star Conference while ASU fell to 15-4, 4-1 in conference play and saw their eight match winning streak end.
Leading the way for the Hogs was
Valarie Moehrig with her first career double-double of 18 kills and 13 digs. Recording her third consecutive double-double and 10th of the season was
Krystal Faison after a 14-kill, 21-dig performance. Her dig total matched her career-high set earlier this season at Maryville.
Casey Klobedans finished with a match-high 41 assists and added 11 digs, giving her eight double-doubles on the year. Tying her career best of three service aces was
Brett Zaccardo while also finishing with 19 digs.
Haley Hutchinson finished with a team-high six blocks, two of them solo.
TAMUK held the Belles to a .126 attack percentage with 28 errors, 11 of which came on blocks. The Javelinas finished the night with 50 kills, hit .180 and recorded 75 digs.
Two kills from Faison, one by Moehrig and a Zaccardo service ace helped put TAMUK ahead 5-2 early in the opening set. Hutchinson started a 5-0 run with a solo rejection that also saw Faison recorded three service aces during the stretch.
After a combined rejection courtesy of Klobedans and
Malayzia Winbush, the Rambelles won six of the next eight points to cut the Javelinas' lead to 14-11.
TAMUK slowly increased their advantage to five and forced the visitors to call their final timeout of the set following an attack error and Hutchinson kill. However, ASU responded with a 6-2 run to pull to within one and force the Blue and Gold to use a timeout.
Coming out of the short break, the Belles hit into two attack errors and then a kill by Faison gave the Blue and Gold set point. Klobedans used a quick attack to catch ASU sleeping and put the Javelinas up 1-0 in the match.
TAMUK opened the second stanza with five straight points thanks to kills from Bukowski and Moehrig and combined rejection of
Madison Brabham and
Ashley Bukowski. ASU came back and took their first lead of the match 10-9.
A kill by Hutchinson and a Rambelle attack error put the Hogs back in front but only temporary. ASU won six straight to go in front by four. Eight of the next 10 points went in the Blue and Gold's favor thanks to three kills by Moehrig.
The Rambelles managed to tie the score 22-22 but three kills courtesy of Moehrig put the Hogs up two sets to none.
Moehrig started the third stanza like she ended the second with a kill for the first point. Back-to-back blocks and a kill from Faison put the Hogs up 5-3. ASU answered with seven consecutive points that ended with a Hutchinson kill. That point also started TAMUK on a 7-1 run to take the lead back.
Neither team was able to go ahead by more than two until the Rambelles went up 19-16 after scoring five straight. Three of the following four points went to the Javelinas to pull to within one. That would be as close as they would get as ASU took the set 25-22.
The Rambelles took the first three points before a block by Brabham and Bukowski put the Hogs on the board. Hutchinson got her hands on an attack by herself that knotted the score and a Belle attack error put TAMUK in front 5-4.
ASU went back in front with back-to-back scores. The Blue and Gold were able to manage to tie the score twice more until the Belles went up 10-8. A kill courtesy of Moehrig followed by three straight ASU attack errors gave the Javelinas a 12-10 advantage.
The Rambelles managed to cut their deficit to 19-18 but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way. Moehrig finished the contest off with a kill that landed in front of a diving defensive play.
Next up for the Blue and Gold is a 2 p.m. match Saturday in the SPEC against Tarleton State and the top offensive player in Division II, Hailey Roberts.
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