SAN ANGELO, Texas – The first loss of 2018 for the Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team came at the hands of the No. RV Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions, who won in straight sets, 25-22, 25-14, 25-22 on Friday afternoon in San Angelo, Texas at Stephens Arena at the Junell Center.
For the second straight contest, senior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas) led the team in kills, amassing 10 while freshman Kailey Estrada (San Antonio, Texas) posted the squad's best attack percentage at .385 with six kills in 13 tries.
Freshman Emily North's (Red Oak, Texas) 21 assists give her 55 through two showings in the Blue and Gold. Freshman Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) piled up 20 digs, the match's highest total.
A 7-2 start put the Javelinas (1-1) in control early, but the Lions (2-0) dominated after that. An 8-1 run gave them a 12-9 lead and they continued slowly adding to that margin. The Javelinas couldn't get closer than two points after that and Debra Rogers' kill, her seventh, finished the frame at 25-22. The Lions outhit the Javelinas .148 to .123 in the set. Murff collected 11 digs.
Through the early parts of the second set, both teams held their own, but UAFS seized the initiative with a 10-3 spurt and raced away from there before a blast from Erin Black put the Lions up 2-0. Black and and her teammates managed an attack percentage of .407 in the set and committed only one error on 27 swings while also picking up three aces.
The final stanza started as a back and forth affair before the Javelinas took a 7-5 lead on a kill by junior Melanie Casteel (Dallas, Texas) and that edge grew to 12-8, but the Lions responded by winning six of eight and drawing level at 14. After the score moved to 17-17, a kill by Rachel Williams, a TAMUK attack error and an Anna Demmer ace put UAFS up by three and that deficit could not be overcome. Black and Taylor Clay combined for a block that iced the sweep.
Rogers racked up 16 kills, the most in the match, and her .538 attack percentage was the best. Taylor Stoops' 30 assists were a game-high. Demmer's 16 digs paced the victors who also saw Pilar Onstad and Williams reach double figures in that category.
Day two of the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational begins bright and early for the Javs with an 8 a.m. matchup against St. Mary's and concludes when they take on East Central University at 4 p.m. Links to live stats and video for every match are available on Javelinaathletics.com, which is also where you'll be able to find a complete recap postgame. 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.
