STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team took a 2-0 lead over the No. 22 A&M-Commerce Lions in the Lone Star Conference Tournament semifinals, but the Javelinas couldn't hold off a comeback by the second-seeded Lions and dropped a 20-25, 24-26, 25-17, 25-23, 15-12 decision on Friday at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville, Texas.
Senior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas) added one more excellent night to her already outstanding season and career, churning out 12 kills, 21 assists and 13 digs for her 15th triple-double of the season. Her 12 kills were tied for a match-high.
Fellow fourth-year player Haley Hutchinson (Georgetown, Texas) made program history by logging four total blocks in the contest, upping her career total to 487 and breaking the all-time record previously held by Ada Ihemelu. Hutchinson also matched Brabham's total with 12 smashes.
Also contributing offensively and defensively was junior Talleyshia Morris (Tulsa, Okla.), who hit a scorching .533, sending nine attacks to the floor with one error on 15 swings. On defense Morris picked up nine total blocks for the second straight day to lead the field. Freshman Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) piled up 20 digs to lead all players and another first-year player, Emily North (Red Oak, Texas)led the squad with 25 assists.
The first multiple-point lead of the match belonged to Commerce when they moved in front 6-3, but the Javelinas quickly answered by taking four of five and tying the score at seven. After that, neither side could take a lead of more than one until the Lions went ahead 18-16, but TAMUK once again had a response. By notching nine of the next 11 scores in a stretch that included two kills from Brabham, the Blue and Gold grabbed the first game. A kill by Hutchinson ended a stanza that saw the Javelinas hold Commerce to a .029 hitting percentage.
A pair of block assists and a kill by freshman Kailey Estrada (San Antonio, Texas), who would finish with seven total rejections, helped the Javelinas build an 8-4 edge in the second game. The Lions were able to climb within one at 13-12, but three straight to the Javs put them back in front by four. A&M-Commerce was able to come back again, this time tying the score at 23 and again at 24 by taking eight of 11, but a blast from Brabham and a well-placed attack by Morris secured a 2-0 lead for the Blue and Gold.
The Lions started their comeback by immediately establishing control in the third stanza, moving ahead 11-4. The TAMUK deficit grew as large as nine at 15-6 before the Javelinas battled back to within five, but that was as close as they would get before a ball-handling error ended the frame.
An early 5-2 Lion edge was erased by a 7-2 burst by TAMUK, but A&M-Commerce reestablished command by grabbing 11 of the next 14 rallies for a 19-13 edge. The Javs rebounded with an 8-2 run to slide ahead, 23-22, but couldn't find the play the needed to force a match point. A kill by Jaryn Wacker, a bad set and an attack error pushed the match to a fifth game.
In the final stanza, the Lions once again established control quickly, scoring eight of the first nine points and the Javelinas couldn't quite dig out of that hole. Five consecutive scores by TAMUK brought them within two before A&M-Commerce tacked on three more to go ahead 11-6. One more Javelina run made the score 12-10, but the Blue and Gold was unable to cut the lead to one and Commerce completed their comeback on a service error.
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