KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Tarleton State TexAnns posted a hitting percentage of .442 on their way to a 25-16, 25-15, 25-18 victory over the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas on Tuesday night.
For the fourth straight match, senior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas) led all players in kills, as she amassed 15 and her 12 assists allowed her to log her 18th double-double of the season. Freshman Emily North (Red Oak, Texas) led the Blue and Gold with 14 assists and freshman Alexa Ruiz (Schertz, Texas) totaled a team-high eight digs.
Tarleton led the whole way in taking the first set, building a lead that grew as large as 10 at 17-7. TAMUK used a 6-1 run to close within five, but six of the final eight rallies went to the visitors and a bad set by the Javelinas provided the final point. While the Javs hit .276 as a team, a mark above their season average, the TexAnns posted a kill rate of .565, with 14 kills against one error on 23 attacks. They also tallied four blocks.
The second set started with five ties before the score arrived at 5-5, but TSU took off on a 9-2 run after that and seized a 14-7 lead. The TexAnns later expanded their lead to 21-9 before TAMUK took six of seven and closed within seven, but Tarleton collected three straight after that, securing the set and a 2-0 lead. Their offense continued rolling to the tune of a .542 hit rate.
Brabham kills secured the first two points of the third game for the Javelinas, but Tarleton bounced back with five straight points to take a 6-3 edge and later led again by three at 11-8. The Javs continued to stay within striking distance as the score moved to 19-16, but TSU was able to muster up another run, notching six of the next eight points to close out the sweep.
The TexAnns picked up 40 kills on 77 attacks while making six errors to craft their .442 kill rate, their highest mark of the year. The Javelinas posted a percentage of .139, with 35 kills and 21 errors on 101 attacks.
The Javelinas' final road trip of 2018 begins on Friday, when they'll visit the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds in Portales, N.M. at 6 p.m. Fans can keep up with Javelina volleyball throughout the season by following @JavelinaVB on Twitter and @javelinasports and @JavelinaVB on Instagram, liking Javelina Volleyball on Facebook and visiting Javelinasports.com.
