WICHITA FALLS, Texas – A fifth consecutive triple-double from senior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas) highlighted by a season-high 16 digs helped the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team win its third straight in the form of a 25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 25-19 decision over the MSU Texas Mustangs on Saturday afternoon at the D.L. Ligon Coliseum in Wichita Falls, Texas.
In what's becoming a habit, Brabham put together a full stat line that included 16 digs accompanied by 20 assists and 19 kills. No one could match her kill total on this day and she's now reached 20 assists in six consecutive matches. She also bested every participant with a .485 hitting percentage.
Reaching the double-double plateau for the second consecutive day were junior Loren Washington (Austin, Texas) and freshman Emily North (Red Oak, Texas). Washington's 12 kills were the most she's had in a match in 2018 and she added 17 scoops. North's 30 assists gave her four straight contests with at least 30 helpers and the Red Oak native was also credited with 10 digs. Freshman Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) led the Blue and Gold with 22 digs.
TAMUK was in top form in the opening game, posting a sparkling .419 hitting percentage while holding the Mustangs to a .091 clip. Brabham totaled five kills on 10 swings without a mistake. The Blue and Gold quickly jumped in front, 3-0, and a 5-1 stretch pushed the lead to 10-5. After the teams exchanged points several times, the Javs took six of nine to go up by seven. While MSU managed to move within three at 22-19, the final three points of the set went to the visitors, capped by a blast from Brabham.
In the second stanza, the teams tied 16 times before arriving at an 18-18 deadlock. After that, a smash from Brabham sparked 5-0 TAMUK burst and the Mustangs couldn't draw even again after that. The final point of the set was scored by junior Talleyshia Morris (Tulsa, Okla.) with a kill off a set from North and the Blue and Gold had a 2-0 lead. The Javelinas continued hitting on all cylinders offensively, posting a .400 hitting percentage in the frame.
The Javelinas used a pair of kills from Brabham to go ahead, 8-5, in the third, but a stretch where MSU took seven of nine allowed them to take 14-12 lead. The Blue and Gold re-took the lead at 19-17, but the Mustangs had another answer ready and an 8-3 run to finish the game, capped by a Raven Presley kill, allowed them to force a fourth set.
The Javelinas wanted nothing to do with a fifth set and they made that abundantly clear by racing to a huge lead in the fourth game. Of the first 15 points, 12 went to TAMUK with Brabham contributing three kills and Murff adding a pair of aces. The Mustangs twice got within five points, but a 5-1 burst pushed TAMUK ahead by nine, allowing the visitors to hold off another rally by MSU. Freshman Mia Soto (San Antonio, Texas) salted away her team's 13th victory with the day's final kill.
The Steinke Physical Education Center is the next destination for the Javelinas, who will host Angelo State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. To keep up with everything related to Javelina volleyball all season long, follow @JavelinaVB on Twitter and @javelinasports on Instagram, like Javelina Volleyball on Facebook and visit Javelinasports.com.
