CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Despite getting strong performances out of the third and fourth flights, the Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team was edged by the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Friday in Corpus Christi, Texas by a score of 3-2.
The defeat snaps what was a five-match win streak for the Javelinas and their record is now 11-6.
In the No. 4 flight, senior Kyra Henderson (Carlsbad, Calif.) and junior Haley Hutchinson (Georgetown, Texas) broke an early tie with a 7-1 run and held on to take the first set, 21-19. With the score at 12-9 in the second set, Hutchinson and Henderson took off on a 9-1 rally to secure the first point for TAMUK, 21-19, 21-10. In the fifth slot, sophomores Maelee Sowa (Sealy, Texas) and Loren Washington (Round Rock, Texas) battled to a decisive third set, but were ultimately defeated by Jenna Krenek and Naomi Overstreet, 21-18, 15-21, 15-11. The No. 6 match was a three-set victory for senior Madeline Sims (Aztec, N.M.) and sophomore Kadi Shipman (Georgetown, Texas)
Corpus Christi took their first lead of the match when Selina Marolf and Abigail Devido topped sophomore Gabby Atchley (Concord, Calif.) and freshman Whitney Walker (Bellingham, Wash.) 21-14, 21-10 in the No. 1 match. Madison Green and Rachel Young then secured the match with a 22-20, 21-15 defeat of junior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas) and freshman Macy Berg (San Antonio, Texas) in the No. 2 spot. Freshmen Tenley Housler (Bulverde, Texas) and Erin Umbel (Helotes, Texas) pushed their win streak to nine by winning the third flight, 21-12, 17-21, 15-10.
On Wednesday, the Javelinas will return to the court for a match against Houston Baptist in Houston at 2 p.m. To stay up-to-date with everything related to Javelina beach volleyball, visit Javelinaathletics.com, follow @JavelinaBeach on Twitter and @JavelinaBeach on Instagram and like the /JavelinaSports Facebook page.
