CANYON, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball watched a 2-0 lead evaporate, but rallied in the fifth set and came away with a dramatic 25-21, 25-19, 19-25, 18-25, 15-13 victory on Saturday afternoon in Lone Star Conference action at the WTAMU Fieldhouse in Canyon, Texas.
"I was very proud of our team today," said coach Tanya Allen. "This is a much needed win. I thought Emily [North] and Alexa [Ruiz] did a nice job keeping their energy up and staying focused in high pressure situations."
North (Red Oak, Texas) reached 30 assists for the 10th time in her freshman season, passing out 32, a total that no other player could match. Ruiz (Schertz, Texas) led the Blue and Gold in digs for the third consecutive match, racking up 18.
Senior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas) continued adding to her NCAA best triple-double total. She now has 11 after turning in a performance that included a match-high 24 kills, 22 helpers and 15 digs. Her .372 hitting percentage was also unmatched on this day. Fellow senior Haley Hutchinson (Georgetown, Texas) picked up her second double-double of 2018, piling up 11 kills and 10 scoops. Also putting up 11 kills was junior Talleyshia Morris (Tulsa, Okla.) and she added block assists. Morris now has 23 total blocks in her last six contests.
The Javelinas wasted no time seizing the early momentum, winning eight of the first 10 points and eventually going up 10-4. The Lady Buffs never led in the frame and couldn't get closer than two before a blast from junior Loren Washington (Austin, Texas) put the first set in TAMUK's column. Kingsville's defense forced WT into five attack errors and a .088 kill rate in the opening stanza.
The Lady Buffs were intent on evening the match and led 9-6 in the early stages of the second set, but the Javelinas used a 6-2 spurt to grab a 14-13 advantage. After WT slid back ahead by one, the Javelinas took eight of nine, with Morris and junior Melanie Casteel (Dallas, Texa) combining for a pair of blocks, and the score moved to 23-17. Four rallies later, an attack error by Gabby Emery handed the Javelinas a 2-0 edge. The Javs accumulated six block assists to go with a .276 spike rate moved up by two.
A 7-1 run by the home team put WT ahead 8-4 and the Lady Buffs were able to continue stretching their lead until they led 20-12. Seven of the next nine rallies went to the Javelinas, but WT took three straight to force the match to fourth set. This time it was the WT offense that functioned well, posting a .273 hitting percentage.
An 8-1 burst turned a 4-3 deficit into a 12-5 cushion and WT was soon ahead 17-9. TAMUK scored six straight on a run capped by an ace from Ruiz and closed within two, only to see West Texas regain control after that. Eight of the set's final 11 rallies went the way of the home team and sent the match to a fifth game.
The teams traded leads after forging a 4-4 tie early in the final frame. After TAMUK scored a pair, the Lady Buffs responded with four straight, but the Javelinas grabbed a stranglehold on the set by collecting six of the next seven rallies. The Javs soon arrived at their first match point with the score 14-10. West Texas didn't make it easy, taking three straight to close within one, but the clincher was applied via an attack error by Sidney Johnson and the Javelinas had their 16th win.
The season's final weekend brings the Javelinas back to Kingsville for two matches, the first one coming on Friday against MSU Texas at 7 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.
