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KINGSVILLE, Texas – A long week awaits the Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team (9-8, 2-4 LSC). The Javelinas travel out to the panhandle of Texas that will see them play five matches over the next four days.
 
First up will be a doubleheader in Goodwell, Oklahoma on Wednesday. The Blue and Gold will face New Mexico Highlands (4-10) at 4 p.m. and follow with a 7 p.m. contests against Oklahoma Panhandle State (1-15), who TAMUK swept a couple weeks ago at home.
 
The Javelinas return to Lone Star Conference play Friday night for an 8 p.m. CT contest against Eastern New Mexico (6-9, 0-5 LSC) in Portales, New Mexico. Concluding road swing on Saturday in Canyon, Texas, the Hogs face West Texas A&M (7-8, 1-4 LSC) at 12:30 p.m. and Newman (14-4) at 3:30 p.m.
 
Scouting Texas A&M-Kingsville
Krystal Faison continues to pace TAMUK in kills (201) and k/s (3.05). Valarie Moehrig, this week's Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week, increased her kill total and average to 192 and 3.00, respectively. Right behind both of them is Ashley Bukowski with 190 kills and 2.92 k/s.
 
Setting the trio and others up for attacks is Casey Klobedans. She has 669 assists on the season for 10.14 a set. Her .322 attack percentage is the best on the squad.
 
At the service line, Faison has a team-high 20 aces. Both Bukowski and Klobedans have 16 apiece and are followed by Abbey Wells (15) and Brett Zaccardo (14).
 
Freshman Haley Hutchinson goes into the week with a team best 59 blocks, 11 of which have been solo rejections. Fellow classmate Madison Brabham is second with 46 total blocks and eight solo. Zaccardo's 4.92 d/s ranks second in the conference. Also recording over three digs a set is Faison at 3.74.
 
Scouting New Mexico Highlands
A balanced attack is led by Andrea Nunez with 106 kills and 2.79 k/s. Caroline Hansen has recorded 92 kills and is followed by Talise Babitt and Katie Trammel with 89 and 82 kills, respectively. The Cowgirls have used three setters this season. Pacing them with 4.79 a/s is Riley Smith. Second with 4.57 a/s is Shayli Schultz and Tarissa Mellin has been credited with 4.24 a/s.
 
Tiana Matthews paces the squad with 33 blocks. Next on the team with 31 rejections is Katie Trammel. Three players are averaging at least three digs a set. Lexis Satele leads NMHU at 3.31 d/s. Next is Miranda Arredondo at 3.17 and then Alyssa Steagall with 3.04.
 
The all-time series is tied 1-1, both meetings taking place at a neutral site. The last match took place Sept. 10, 2001 in Canyon, Texas with the Javelinas coming out on top 3-1. NMHU took the first meeting in five sets on Sept. 9, 2003 in Durango, Colo.
 
Scouting Oklahoma Panhandle State
Six players are averaging at least one kill a set led by Madigan Gonzalez at 1.96. Kaitlyn Carr has recorded 1.88 k/s, followed by Riley Abert (1.37), Bristen Graves (1.29), Emily Goeken (1.21) and Summer Middleton (1.30). Abigail Reinick paces the squad with 140 assists. Celci Bakos has also reached triple digits in assists with 106 while Julia Ibarra sports a team best 3.27 a/s over 30 sets.
 
Gonzalez enters with a team best 32 blocks. Abert is the only other player with 20 or more blocks, totaling 21. Leading the Aggies with 119 digs and 2.77 d/s is Dejiana Rubio.
 
After the Blue and Gold won the first meeting this season, they are 2-0 all-time against OPSU. The first match between the squads took place on Sept. 9, 2011 in Canyon, Texas.
 
Scouting Eastern New Mexico
Right side hitter Lauren Frye leads ENMU and is second in the conference with 3.86 k/s. She has totaled 224 kills and is hitting .260 on the season. Middle blockers Brooklyn Biel and Laura Landreth have recorded 102 and 90 kills, respectively. Alexis Aguirre paces the team with 359 assists for an average of 6.19 a set.
 
Defensively, Biel's 1.12 b/s ranks second in the league. Of her 65 total blocks, 11 of them have been solo rejections. Landreth has added 41 blocks while Talaitupu Faumui (30) and Frye (33) have at least 30 rejections as well. Leading the squad with 263 digs (4.53 d/s) is Andrea Aguilar.
 
The Greyhounds have a 31-20 advantage in the all-time series but TAMUK has won seven straight and 14 of the last 16. The Javelinas last loss to Eastern was on Sept. 9, 2011 in Canyon while their last defeat in Portales was Oct. 21, 2010 in four sets.
 
Scouting West Texas A&M
Four players have over 100 kills this season paced by Courtnee Curl's 147. Cori Haley has recorded 134, followed by 125 from Lexi Davis and 107 by Elisa Bentsen. Jessica Jackson leads the Lady Buffs with 360 assists (8.57 a/s) and 13 service aces.
 
Davis is fourth in the conference with 58 blocks. Second on the squad with 49 rejections is Bentsen. Recording 183 digs has been Lauren Britten while eight others are averaging a dig a set as well.
 
The all-time series has been dominated by WT, 47-2. TAMUK's only two victories, both in four sets, occurred during the 2004 season. The Lady Buffs have won the past 17 meetings in which the Javelinas have taken only three sets.
 
Scouting Newman
Ashley Gonzalez leads the Jets with 273 kills, 4.27 k/s and a .374 attack percentage. Averaging over two kills a set are Emily Harvey (2.59) and Kayla Turner (2.62). Setting them up is Alexus Litts with 10.89 a/s and a total of 697.
 
Pacing the squad with 5.26 d/s is Anna Burton. Gaylynn Jones is second with 3.55 digs a set. At the net, Gonzalez has a team-high 46 blocks followed closely by Yemima Buana's 43.
 
Saturday's match will be the first ever meeting between the Blue and Gold and the Jets.
 
Moehrig LSC Offensive POW
Valarie Moehrig earned the Lone Star Conference's Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 6. She helped lead the Javelinas to an upset of a ranked Angelo State squad with 18 kills and 13 digs, recording her first career double-double. She followed with her second straight double-double of 13 kills and 12 digs against Tarleton State.
 
Upset of #24 Rambelles
October 2, 2015 will be a date to remember in the history of the Javelina volleyball program. The Blue and Gold pulled off an incredible upset of then 24th-ranked Angelo State in four sets in the SPEC. The victory was the first over the Rambelles since 2008 and possible the first against a ranked opponent in school history.
 
Assists Chase
Klobedans recently moved into eighth on the Javelinas' career assists list after recording 38 assists at St. Mary's, surpassed Courtney Gamble (1998-99). Klobedans currently has 1,803 assists in her career and is 70 shy of passing Sara Streets (2002-03) for seventh place.
 
At the end of her freshman campaign, Klobedans sat 10th on the career list with 1,171 assists. The program leader is Natalie Walther (2001-04) with 3,051.
 
Career Digs
Zaccardo is closing in on the Javelinas' top 10 career digs list. She heads into the week with 860 almost halfway thru her sophomore campaign. To reach 10th place, Zaccardo needs 99 more digs to tie Leslie Petros (2004-06). Kim Martinez (1996-99) holds the TAMUK career record with 2,009.
 
Double-Doubles
After the third week of competition, the Javelinas have totaled 27 double-doubles between four players. Faison leads the team with 10 followed by eight from Klobedans and seven by Bukowski. Recording the first two double-doubles of her career against Angelo State and Tarleton State was Moehrig.
 
Zaccardo's Career-Highs
Zaccardo set new career-highs in assists and digs against Our Lady of the Lake. She recorded 31 digs in the five-set contest to surpass her previous best of 30 at Eastern New Mexico last season. Her eight assists in the game broke her old mark of seven set earlier this season against St. Mary's.
 
LSC Player of the Week for Zaccardo
After her strong performance in the Emerald Beach Hotel Javelina Volleyball Invitational, Zaccardo was named the Lone Star Conference's Defensive Player of the Week. She totaled 75 digs for a 5.77 d/s mark. In the final match against Lubbock Christian, Zaccardo set a new program record with 29 digs in a three-set contest.
 
All-Time Winningest TAMUK Coach
With the Javelinas sweep of St. Mary's in their first match of the Emerald Beach Hotel Javelina Volleyball Invitational, head coach Tanya Allen became the winningest coach in program history. She earned her 69th victory since coming to Kingsville. Her win total surpassed Jane Kieschnick (2000-06) mark of 68 wins.
 
New 3-Set Dig Record
Zaccardo set a new team record in the Javelinas final match of their home tournament. She recorded 29 digs in the three-set victory over Lubbock Christian. The previous record was 26 set by Tara Grier against Eastern New Mexico at home on Sept. 15, 2007.
 
Emerald Beach Hotel All-Tournament
Faison was the Blue and Gold's selection to the Emerald Beach Hotel Javelina Volleyball Invitational All-Tournament team. She led all players with 48 kills and was second with a 3.69 k/s average. Faison also recorded back-to-back double-doubles in the first two contests.
 
Maryville All-Tournament Team
With their second place finish at the Maryville Invitational to begin the season, TAMUK landed two players on the all-tournament team. Picking up the honors were Faison and Zaccardo.
 
Matched Service Aces Mark
Klobedans tied a Javelina service ace record in the season opener against Southern Wesleyan. She hit six aces in the five-set match. The previous Hoggie to reach the mark was Kim Martinez against Angelo State on Nov. 8, 1997 at home.
 
Klobedans LSC Preseason Setter
Klobedans was selected as the Lone Star Conference's Preseason Setter of the Year by the head coaches, sports information directors and media members. She was the conference's co-Setter of the Year after recording 1,171 assists (10.18 a/s).
 
Javelinas Picked Fifth in LSC
TAMUK was picked to finish fifth in the Lone Star Conference's 2015 preseason poll by coaches, sports information directors and media members. West Texas A&M was picked first with 19 of the possible 25 first place votes while the defending conference tournament champions Tarleton State were second with five first-place picks. Receiving the final first-place vote was Angelo State.
 
Live stats will be available for all five matches and video for four of them. The lone match without a video stream will be Saturday's contest against Newman. Links can be found on the volleyball schedule page.
 
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