KINGSVILLE, Texas – A slate of pivotal road matches are ahead for Texas A&M University-Kingsville (16-9, 8-5 LSC) with the 2017 Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championships right around the corner. The Javelinas will face Texas Woman's University (10-13, 7-7 LSC) on Friday, October 27 at 7 p.m. and then challenge Texas A&M University-Commerce (15-9, 10-4 LSC) on Saturday, October 28 at 2 p.m.
As it stands today, Kingsville has a slight edge over West Texas A&M as the No. three seed. Their three-match winning streak has been anchored by great offense. In conference matches this season, TAMUK hits .247 which ranks second in the league and averages 13.44 kills per set.
Madison Brabham is the lead hitter, finding the floor 2.76 times per set with 246 total kills. She also shows up on defense with 47 blocks.
Krystal Faison is next with 244 kills and is the team leader with 37 aces.
Lexi Wick rounds out the 200-kill hitters at 223 and ranks second on the team with 76 blocks and 23 aces. The Javelinas offense features three more players over 100 kills, starting with
Haley Hutchinson (151) who is the team's leading blocker with 89, freshman
Shelby Sheets (132) and transfer
Gabby Atchley (118).
Texas Woman's will host the Hoggies inside of the Kitty Magee Arena. The Pioneers are on a three-match losing streak but have won five consecutive matches played on their home floor. Miri Shade's 3.21 kills per set sit inside of the top five in the LSC and setter Katy Ranes leads the conference with 10.78 assists per set. Briley Cole-Lewis has gathered 193 kills this year and leads the Pioneers with 58 blocks. Courtney Nole is next with 191 kills, followed by Makayla Mayfield and Kerstin Jenkins with 137 and 106 kills, respectively.
A&M-Commerce will put their unblemished home record to the test on Saturday afternoon and currently sits second in the LSC standings. Although they only hit .194 as a unit, they limit their opponents to a .167 attack percentage, leading the league with 2.28 blocks per set. Shelly Chapron is a machine with a conference-high 100 blocks and has also logged 166 kills. Jaslyn Wacker leads the team with 222 kills and has contributed 97 blocks in 2017. Chapron and Jaslyn Wacker hold the first and second spots in total blocks for the LSC. Layne Little has 218 kills and Jaryn Wacker comes in at 217 and an efficient 2.52 kills per set that leads the team.
The Javelinas defeated both of these clubs earlier this season in four sets and look to complete the season sweeps. Live stats and a live stream will be available for both matches on the volleyball schedule page at javelinaathletics.com.
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