DENTON, Texas – Despite a fantastic afternoon from senior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas), the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team fell just short in a comeback effort against Texas Woman's University, falling 21-25, 25-21, 25-17, 22-25, 18-16 on Friday afternoon at Kitty Magee Arena in Denton, Texas.
Brabham became the first Javelina to post a triple-double in 2018. She accumulated 26 assists, 18 kills and 13 digs while also contributing a team-high four blocks. She was the team's most potent attacker, with a .385 hit percentage that included only three errors on 39 swings.
Four Blue and Gold student-athletes reached double-digits in digs, led by freshman Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas), who set a new season-high with 32. Junior Sarah Miller (Long Beach, Calif.) collected 15 and junior Loren Washington (Austin, Texas) added 11. Freshman Emily North (Red Oak, Texas) topped the 25-assist mark for the fifth time with 27.
The first frame opened with a 3-3 tie before a smash from Washington gave TAMUK the lead for good. They took seven of the next nine rallies to go ahead 10-5. That lead was soon stretched to seven, but with the visitors ahead 19-12, the Pioneers took six straight points to close within one. Kills by senior Haley Hutchinson (Kingwood, Texas) and freshman Jordan Wonders (Corpus Christi, Texas) sandwiched around a TWU attack error restored the Javs to a secure advantage and they rode that to a 1-0 lead, clinched by a bad set from Bailey French. Hutchinson helped lead way with a .500 attack percentage.
The Pioneers grabbed five of the first six points in the second set, but TAMUK fought back with a 5-1 burst, drawing the sides even at nine. Five more ties pushed the score to 17 all, at which point TWU scored three straight and they used that advantage the rest of the way, evening the match at one set apiece.
A couple of early blasts by junior Melanie Casteel (Dallas, Texas) gave the Javelinas a slim edge early in the third game, but the home team used a 6-1 run to move ahead 11-7. Soon after, they reeled off six straight and never looked back. The Javelinas never got closer than five points after that and a kill by Courtney Noel put the Pioneers one set closer to a victory. TWU posted a kill rate of .395 in the third.
The Javelinas recaptured a rhythm in the fourth stanza and used a 5-0 stretch to take a 10-5 edge, only to see TWU answer with six-in-a-row. The lead went back-and-forth until two Pioneer attack errors and two smashes by Hutchinson made the score 19-15 and the Javs held on after that, with a block by Brabham and freshman Kailey Estrada (San Antonio, Texas) pushing the contest to a decisive fifth set.
Two more rejections by Brabham and Estrada helped the Javelinas earn a 5-2 advantage before TWU took four of the next five to level things at six. A rocket off the arm of Brabham and and Pioneer error allowed TAMUK to edge ahead, 13-11, and they were eventually able to get a pair of match points, but they squandered both chances. The last three scores all went to home side, allowing them to secure the win.
Next up for the Javelinas is a visit to the No. 23 team in the nation, the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions, who will host the Javelinas at 1 p.m. on Saturday. 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.
