KINGSVILLE, Texas – Home sweet home! Texas A&M University-Kingsville (17-11, 9-7 LSC) will close out the home portion of its 2017 schedule with a match on Friday, November 3 against UT Permian Basin (4-22, 1-16 LSC) followed by a critical contest against West Texas A&M University (19-10, 11-6 LSC) at the Gil E. Steinke Physical Education Center.    
 
The Javelinas received good news yesterday when the NCAA front office ranked them 9th in the initial NCAA Division II Volleyball South Central regional rankings. This will be an important week in the confines of their home arena where they have recorded just four losses over two seasons. 
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville is tied for fourth in the conference standings in large part due to a strong offense that hits .222 (third in LSC) and serves well with 138 total aces (3rd in LSC). Defensively, the club has gathered 205 blocks and leads the league with 1,758 digs (16.74 digs per set).  
 
Madison Brabham has been the staple of the offense this season with 278 kills (2.78 kills per set) and adds 56 total blocks. Behind her is senior Krystal Faison who has logged 272 kills and leads the team with 329 points thanks to her 42 aces which qualifies for a three-way tie for first in the LSC. She also has 28 blocks this year. Lexi Wick has 243 kills on 561 swings for a team-high .308 clip and 87 blocks. Haley Hutchinson leads the defense with 102 blocks to go along with 161 kills. Shelby Sheets has had a good freshman campaign with 164 kills as well as newcomer Gabby Atchley, finding the floor 121 times. Casey Klobedans is the one who pieces it all together with 1,025 assists (9.76 assists per set) and has contributed 70 kills, 43 blocks and 14 aces in 2017. 

The Falcons from UT Permian Basin enter the weekend with a 17-match losing streak and have yet to win a match on the road this season. They are led by Rachel Dixon's 200 kills and Skyler Friel, who leads the team with 71 blocks, 22 aces and has 132 kills on the season. Caitlyn Guajardo is a standout player with 188 kills and 31 blocks, and Travana Matthews rounds out the top hitters with 127 kills. 
 
The main event for the weekend will be against West Texas A&M who is third in the LSC standings and is on a league-best six-match win streak. Making things more interesting, the Lady Buffs is ranked one spot ahead of the Javelinas in the NCAA Division II Volleyball South Central regional rankings but have struggled on the road with a 3-5 record. WT hits .219 as a team and average 13.49 kills per set. Erin Clark leads a tri of 200-plus kills athletes with 274 and a team-high 2.91 kills per set. Crystal Thomas is a strong two-way player with 243 kills (2.43 kills per set) on a .311 hitting percentage which is the second highest in the LSC. She adds 14 aces and is the team leader with 107 total blocks in 2017. Kamille Jones has 240 kills (2.58) and setter Selena Batiste averages 9.25 assists per set to go along with 118 kills and a team-high 29 aces. 
 
Before jumping into action against the Lady Buffs, we will honor arguably the greatest class of seniors to wear the Blue and Gold consisting of Casey Klobedans, Krystal Faison, and Lexi Wick. As it stands today, Klobedans is the all-time leader with 4,876 assists and ranks 7th with 108 service aces. Faison jumped Javelina legend Kim Martinez to become the new all-time leader with 167 service aces, she's third all-time with 1,381 kills and third all-time with 1,622.5 points. Finally, in her two seasons with the Javelinas, Wick has set the standard with a .359 career attack percentage including a record-setting .398 clip in 2016. Wick was the 2016 LSC Newcomer of the Year is the Javelinas first All-American (AVCA and D2CCA All-American in 2016). 
 
Both games including the senior day festivities will be streamed lived with links accessible from the volleyball schedule page at javelinaathletics.com. Live stats will also be provided free of charge.  
    
Receive content for Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball by following @JavelinaVB on Twitter and Instagram, like the official Facebook page of Javelina Athletics (/JavelinaSports), and subscribe to the JavelinaAthletics YouTube channel.