KINGSVILLE, Texas – For the second straight weekend, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team is hitting the road to play four matches in two days. This time, they're jetting off to Miami Shores, Fla. for the Barry University Classic, where they'll play twice on Friday and two more times on Saturday.
Day one begins at 2 p.m., when the squad will tangle with Saginaw Valley State before taking on the event's host school, Barry University at 2 p.m. The second day starts early with a 10 a.m. meeting against Southern Connecticut and the weekend concludes with a 1 p.m. match against Bridgeport.
Senior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas) picked up right where she left off in 2017, lending justification to her preseason selection as the Lone Star Conference's Offensive Player of the Year. On Tuesday, she was honored as the league's offensive player of the week after averaging 4.33 kills per set, the LSC's best mark. She's also piled up 58 assists, a mark that's already surpassed her total in that category over her first three seasons. Brabham has three double-doubles to her credit, including a 22 kill, 16 assist performance against New Mexico Highlands that also included nine digs.
The Javelina offense has posted an average of 15.27 kills per set, the nation's third highest mark. Helping spark this offense has been the setting of Brabham and freshman Emily North (Red Oak, Texas). The team's rate of 14.6 assists per set is second best in Division II, led by North's average of 7.8.
Another first-year Javelina, Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas), has been the centerpiece of the team's defense. From the libero spot, she is averaging 6.13 digs per set, tops in the LSC and 11th in the country. As a team, the Javs currently rank 17th in that category. Murff's seven aces are also a team-high. Murff and North were two of 12 student-athletes who saw their first collegiate action at the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational, where the team went 3-1 to open the season.
This tournament will pit the Javelinas against four teams they'll be encountering for the first time. After being picked to finish fourth in the Great Lakes Athletic Conference, the SVSU Cardinals reeled off four straight wins at the Parkside Tournament. Coach Will Stanton's team is already more than halfway to their 2017 win total of six.
Stanton has been at the helm of SVSU's program since 2003. His 218 victories are the most in program history and he's hoping his team can rebound from a 6-21 campaign a year ago, which was the Cardinals' first losing season since 2012 and just the second time since 2005 they've failed to post a winning record.
The Barry Bucs also own a 4-0 record after blowing through the USC-Aiken Invitational without dropping a set. The Bucs are hoping to avoid a letdown similar to one they experienced in 2017, when they started 8-4, but finished the year with 11 losses in 13 matches for a mark of 10-15.
The good news for this weekend's host school is they returned their best player from year ago. The Javelinas will be seeking neutralize middle blocker Kristina Filimonova, who made the Sunshine State Conference's first-team in 2017. The former SSC Freshman of the Year collected 104 blocks as a sophomore and her 1.11 blocks per set placed her fourth in the league. The Moscow, Russia native also crafted a hitting percentage of .281.
Southern Connecticut didn't have to leave their home state to start their schedule and they've won nine straight sets entering the competition. The Owls are fortunate to bring back the two players who played the most important roles in their run to the NCAA Tournament's second round last year.
Outside hitter Leanna Jadus was honored as the Northeast 10's Player of the Year while also garnering Honorable Mention All-American accolades. As a junior, Jadus ran up 24 double-doubles while accumulating 488 kills and 51 aces, both team-highs, with 430 digs. Her 16 kills and 15 scoops helped the Owls top NYIT in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Joining Jadus on the conference and all-region first-teams was middle blocker Alyssa Gage. Her 108 blocks and .333 hitting percentage were tops on the squad.
The first match on SCSU's slate was against Bridgeport and coach Gary Mullin's Knights emerged with a 3-1 victory. Despite losing their top presence in the middle, the Knights returned their team leaders in kills, assists, aces and digs while also bringing in six freshman.
Links to live stats for every match can be found on Javelinaathletics.com. Live video will be available for TAMUK's match against Barry on Friday evening. You can stay current with everything related to Javelina volleyball all season long by following @JavelinaVB on Twitter and @javelinasports on Instagram, liking Javelina Volleyball on Facebook and visiting Javelinasports.com.
