Tweet #JavelinaStrong
 
KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team continues their homestand this weekend with three matches in two days, including the Lone Star Conference opener. The Javelinas will face Cameron at 7 p.m. on Friday in the Gil H. Steinke Physical Education Center-Kingsville Hampton Inn Court for the Kleberg Bank "Pack the House" night. Saturday sees the Blue and Gold take on Our Lady of the Lake at 9:30 a.m. and then Midwestern State at 2 p.m.
 
After splitting last weekend at the Emerald Beach Hotel Javelina Volleyball Invitational, TAMUK is 5-3 on the season. The Aggies (8-0) are the only team in the conference that has yet to loss a match. Entering with a 4-6 mark is the Mustangs while the Saints are 8-1, 3-0 in the Red River Athletic Conference. Prior to Saturday morning's contest, OLLU will host Langston University Friday night.
 
Scouting Texas A&M-Kingsville
The trio of Krystal Faison, Valarie Moehrig and Ashley Bukowski rank ninth, 10 and 11, resepectively, in the LSC in kills/set. Faison leads the Blue and Gold with 3.00, Moehrig has added 2.97 and Bukowski goes into the weekend with 2.94 a set.
 
Casey Klobedans comes in with 341 assists and a 9.81 a/s mark. She also leads the team with 11 service aces and has added 74 digs, 38 kills and 15 blocks.
 
Freshman Haley Hutchinson paces the Javelinas with 22 kills, five of which have been solo. Fellow classmate Madison Brabham is second with 19 rejections while both Bukowski and Moehrig have 14 apiece. After her recording setting performance against Lubbock Christian, Brett Zaccardo has 149 digs on the year and ranks 92nd nationally with an average of 4.66 a set.
 
Defensively, Madison Brabham leads the squad with 11 blocks while both Haley Hutchinson and Klobedans have 10 rejections apiece. Having recorded at least 20 digs in the last three contests, Faison leads the Javelinas with 77 and 4.05 per set. Sophomore Brett Zaccardo is second with 74 digs and 3.89 d/s.
 
Scouting Cameron
Cameron heads into the weekend as the only undefeated team in the Lone Star Conference at 8-0. The Aggies opened the season with victories over Arkansas-Monticello, Arkansas Tech, Colorado-Colorado Springs and Harding at the Texas Woman's Invite. They followed with wins against Fort Hays State, Southern Arkansas, Southern Nazarene and William Jewell during the Southeastern Oklahoma/East Central Crossover.
 
Kat Evans paces CU with 117 kills and 3.77 k/s. She is hitting .266, good enough for third highest on the squad. Hitting better than her is Kayla Allen (.304) and Jenna Gillean (.302). Jordan Williams is averaging 2.52 k/s, followed by Gillean (2.45) and Allen (2.32). Setting them up is Tori Luckenbill with 302 assists on the year and a 10.41 a/s mark.
 
Defensively, Gillean has recorded three solo blocks and 25 total rejections, the most in each category by an Aggie. Both Allen and Williams have 19 blocks apiece. Also with double-digit rejections is Kendra Adams (12). Ciandra Seabourn paces CU with 140 digs and 4.52 d/s. Totaling over 100 digs this year are Cristina Viera (106) and Evans (121) as well.
 
The Aggies lead the all-time series 21-10 after sweeping the series last season. Prior to then, the Javelinas had won six of the last eight meetings. In Kingsville, CU holds a slight 7-6 advantage.
 
Scouting Our Lady of the Lake
Our Lady of the Lake is 8-1 on the season, 3-0 in the Red River Athletic Conference and have won five straight. The Saints lone loss came to then 19th ranked in the NAIA poll Wayland Baptist. Prior to facing the Javelinas, OLLU hosts Langston University Friday night.
 
Pacing the Saints in kills (95), k/s (3.28) and attack percentage (.338) is Alysha Blanco. Leilani Smith adds 87 kills and 2.81 k/s. After those two, Kendall Groff (55), Villarrea Gloriana (67) and Jessica Walaski (54) have over 50 kills each. Using a 6-2 offensive system, Janelle Solis leads the Saints with 150 assists for an average of 6.25 a set. Alexia Bustamante is the second setter, producing 112 assists and 5.89 a/s.
 
Walaski leads the squad at the net with 29 total blocks.  Jaclyn Bautista has a team-high five solo rejections and has total 20 blocks for the year. Also with more than 10 rejections are Groff (14) and Smith (18). Stephanie Rubo has been credited with 137 digs for a 4.42 d/s mark.
 
Saturday will be the seventh meeting all-time between TAMUK and OLLU. The Javelinas have won five of the previous six contests, including a 3-1 victory last season. The Blue and Gold's lone loss to the Saints came on Halloween night in 2013 up in San Antonio by the score of 3-2.
 
Scouting Midwestern State
Midwestern State enters the weekend with a 4-6 record after dropping three of four at the Arkansas Tech Tournament. The Mustangs four victories have been against Missouri Southern State, Pace, Southwestern Oklahoma State and Texas Wesleyan.
 
Pacing the team offensively is Meghan Bettis with 105 kills and 2.92 k/s, but she is hitting just .157. Hunter Porter has produced 90 kills (2.73 k/s) and a .248 attack percentage. Leading MSU with a .300 attack percentage is Kiley Beaver, adding 85 kills. Setter Hayden Blair comes in with 320 assists and an average of 8.89 a/s.
 
Addison Semer and Beaver lead the Mustangs with 27 blocks apiece. Semer has rejected six attacks by herself while five solo blocks have come from Beaver. Also with double-digit digs (17) is Angel Summers. Both Matti Dix (143) and Madelyn Johnson (104) have over a 100 digs this year.
 
The Javelinas have a 16-11 advantage in the all-time series following a season sweep last season. Prior to last year's two victories, the Mustangs had won eight of the previous 11 meetings. The longest winning streak in the series is seven by the Blue and Gold from 1999 to 2004.
 
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.
 
Assists Chase
Klobedans ended her freshman campaign with 1,171 assists, the 10th most on the career list. She has recorded 314 assists this season to give her 1,485 in her career, moving her to within 160 of ninth place. The program leader is Natalie Walther (2001-04) with 3,051.
 
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).
 
Season Openers
Texas A&M-Kingsville improved to 10-18 all-time in season openers since 1988. The Javelinas have won their last two season opening contests. In head coach Tanya Allen's five seasons, TAMUK is 3-2 and 2-1 in neutral site contests.
 
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 three matches. Links can be found at the top of the article and on the volleyball schedule page.
 
For full coverage of Javelina volleyball, follow @JavelinaVB on Twitter and Instagram and like the JavelinaVB page on Facebook.