KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team picked up their first Lone Star Conference win of the season when they defeated Midwestern State 3-1 (25-18, 24-26, 25-16, 25-15) Saturday afternoon in Gil H. Steinke Physical Education Center-Kingsville Hampton Inn Court.
"Being able to come out and earn a conference win this weekend is crucial to our success," said head coach
Tanya Allen. "Once the players understood what we were expecting, they started feeling good about themselves. After executing right the first time it just spilled over and the momentum came our way."
The Javelinas improved to 6-5 and 1-1 in conference play while the Mustangs fell to 4-7 and 0-1 in the LSC.
Valarie Moehrig led the Hogs with 14 kills, six coming in the fourth set.
Ashley Bukowski finished with her fourth consecutive double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs. Also recording the same line score was
Krystal Faison for her third straight double-double. Finishing with 46 assists and 15 digs was
Casey Klobedans.
Defensively,
Brett Zaccardo led the squad with 29 digs. Along with the double-double trio,
Abbey Wells had over 10 digs as well, totaling 11 to surpass her previous season best.
The Blue and Gold never trailed in the first set. They recorded 12 kills and only two attack errors for a .263 attack percentage. Bukowski and
Haley Hutchinson led the team with three kills apiece. Defensively, TAMUK held MSU to a .106 attack percentage thanks to seven unforced attack errors.
Set two was close thru out with the largest lead being three by the Blue and Gold at 17-14. After Moehrig recorded her fifth kill of the match to tie the score 24-24, the Mustangs got a kill and a TAMUK attack error to tie the match at a set apiece.
Tight early, the Javelinas used a 7-2 run to give them the lead the rest of the third set. Pacing TAMUK during the stretch was Faison with two kills. As a team, the Hogs recorded 17 kills and a .333 attack percentage to MSU's 13 kills and .190 attack percentage.
The Javelinas never looked back as they started the fourth with a 7-1 run thanks to three Moehrig kills and two from
Madison Brabham. MSU made a late run with four straight points but kills from Bukowski and Faison followed by a combined rejection courtesy of Hutchinson and Klobedans ended the match.
Oklahoma Panhandle State comes to Kingsville on Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. to close out the Blue and Gold's eight match homestand.
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