KINGSVILLE, Texas (Volleyball) – Texas A&M University-Kingsville (5-0) takes over the top slot in the Lone Star Conference after conquering St. Mary's University (1-4) in straight sets (25-23, 25-17, 25-15) in front of a packed house inside of Gil E. Steinke Physical Education Center-Kingsville Hampton Inn Court Tuesday night.
The Javelinas remain unbeaten in 2016 after recording their second sweep in as many matches and third overall sweep in 2016.Texas A&M-Kingsville extended its winning streak versus St. Mary's to five games.
TAMUK tied its season high hitting .315 from the floor. Ashley Bukowski had 13 kills to lead the club to go along with her 11 digs and a service ace, marking her third double-double this season. Casey Klobedans also notched her third double-double with 34 assists and a team-high of 12 digs. Krystal Faison registered 12 kills and an ace while Haley Hutchinson and Lexi Wick chipped in six and five kills, respectively and two blocks each.
After a tight first set, the Javs settled down on Pack the House Night in the SPEC and put on a clinic for the home crowd. A&M-Kingsville was untouchable by set three and jumped out to an early 18-6 lead that was too much to overcome for St. Mary's.
GAME INFORMATION
Sets: Texas A&M-Kingsville 3, St. Mary's 0
Records: Texas A&M-Kingsville (5-0, 0-0 LSC), St. Mary's (1-4, 0-0 Heartland Conference)
Series: Texas A&M-Kingsville is 14-27 against St. Mary's
Location: The SPEC
Time of Match: 7 p.m.
TEAM LEADERS
Texas A&M-Kingsville
Kills: Ashley Bukowski, 13
Blocks: Two players with two blocks each
Assists: Casey Klobedans, 34
Aces: Three players with three blocks each
Digs: Casey Klobedans, 12
St. Mary's
Kills: Maddi King, 10
Blocks: Two players with two blocks each
Assists: Bree Perry, 25
Aces: Erin Roou, 2
Digs: Amanda Lake, 12
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1
Faison made her presence known early in the match after six kills in the opening set. Trailing 7-6, a pair of kills by Hutchinson and Bukowski allowed the Hogs to take the lead, a lead they did not relinquish for the remainder of the frame. The Rattlers did rally back with four consecutive points, but Faison delivered the dagger out of a Kingsville timeout to take set one 25-23. Hutchinson and Bukowski split six kills between themselves evenly, while Klobedans registered 12 assists and six digs.
Set 2
The second set featured four ties and two lead changes as A&M-Kingsville settled in and took set two 25-17. TAMUK began to separate themselves by going on a 7-0 run that was highlighted by five StMU errors. Faison and Bukowski continued their dominance with five and four kills, respectively, and both hit over .400. Bukowski added the only ace in the set and tied Klobedans with four digs.
Set 3
Texas A&M-Kingsville was hot in the third set, opening with a 7-1 run and expanding the lead to 11-5. Defensively, TAMUK held StMU to its lowest hitting percentage of all sets (.103) and capitalized on that by hitting .342. Bukowski took over by leading the team with six kills, while Hutchinson and Klobedans followed with three kills each. Hutchinson had the lone block in the set and Klobedans added 12 helpers to coast to a 25-15 win completing the third sweep of the season.
The Blue and Gold will head to Pueblo, Colo. to participate in the CSU-Pueblo Steel and Silver classic where they will match up against Adams State, Wayne State, Nova Southeastern and host, CSU-Pueblo.
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