MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – Fueled by 12 kills and 12 assists by senior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas), as well as a game-high 14 digs from junior Sarah Miller (Long Beach, Calif.), the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team raced past the Southern Connecticut State Owls, 25-17, 25-20, 25-14 on Saturday morning at the Health and Sports Center in Miami Shores, Fla.
This marked the first sweep of the season for the Javelinas, who totaled 44 kills to go with a .279 attack percentage, their second-best mark in that category this season. Their 52 digs also easily outpaced SCSU's 41. The victors also benefitted from a side out percentage of 64.7.
Brabham's double-double was her sixth of the season and TAMUK owns a 4-2 record in those matches. She committed only two errors on 18 smashes for a .556 spike rate, her best as a senior. Junior Melanie Casteel (Dallas, Texas) joined Brabham in double figures with 10 kills. Senior Haley Hutchinson (Georgetown, Texas) contributed five kills on 11 attacks without making an error.
In addition to her 14 digs, Miller added seven finishers without an error. Freshman Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) set season-highs with eight assists and four aces. Freshman Emily North (Red Oak, Texas) contributed 17 helpers and five digs.
The match started out with even play, with a first set that included eight ties. The Javelinas forged the first substantial lead at 11-6 thanks to a 6-1 run, but the Owls came back to tie things at 13. With the score level at 15, a 10-2 burst that included the frame's final seven points propelled the Javelinas to a 1-0 lead. Murff's four aces in the set helped put the Javs in front.
Neither team could separate early in the second frame, as the score stood at 7-7 until the Javs collected four of the next five, two of those points coming on blasts from Casteel. A quick, 3-0 spurt later extended TAMUK's advantage to 18-12 and they kept the Owls at arms-length for the rest of the set. Half of Brabham's 12 kills came in this stanza, including three of her team's last four.
A quick 5-0 run that included a block and a kill from freshman Mia Soto (San Antonio, Texas) provided Tanya Allen's team with a 10-4 lead and put them in position to secure the sweep. The Owls could never get closer than four points after that and TAMUK's edge gradually grew to double-digits. Of the final 13 rallies, 10 went to the Blue and Gold. Miller, Brabham and Casteel each contributed multiple kills during that stretch and freshman Alexa Ruiz (Schertz, Texas) put the match on ice with an ace. Over the last two sets, the Javelinas' attack percentages stood at .324 and .355.
The Owls could only muster an attack percentage of .126 with 27 kills and 14 errors. TAMUK's defense also limited them to only a single ace compared to six for the Javelinas.
Kailyn O'Neal's 18 assists were more than only other player. Gabriella Vazquez and Leanna Jadus led Southern Connecticut with eight kills each. This marks the first time in 2018 the Javs didn't allow any opposing players to reach 10 kills.
The final match of the Barry University Classic for the Javelinas is schedule for 2 p.m. against Bridgeport. A link to the live stats can be found on Javelinaathletics.com, which is also where a recap will be published after the match. 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.
