STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Despite a game-high 24 assists from freshman Emily North (Red Oak, Texas), the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team suffered a 25-10, 25-21, 25-14 defeat at the hands of the Tarleton State TexAnns at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville, Texas on Saturday.
For North, this makes 12 times she's accumulated at least 20 assists in a match. Junior Sarah Miller (Long Beach, Calif.) posted a hit rate of .389 with nine kills on 18 attacks, while also totaling 10 digs.
After the Javelinas took the match's first point, Tarleton collected three straight and continued adding to their lead. A stretch where they took seven of nine put the score at 13-6 and they capped the set by winning 11 of the final 12 points to put the score at 1-0. The TexAnns out-hit the Javelians, .462 to .029 in the frame.
The home team jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second game, but the Javelinas continued creeping closer throughout the stanza. They took seven of 11 to get within 10-7 and twice won four straight points, with Miller contributing a blast and an ace to the latter run, to move within two at 22-20. Tarleton regained control after that, however, collecting three of the last four rallies with Tatyana Tuialii-Umi contributing the final kill, staking TSU to a 2-0 advantage.
Tarleton again raced to an early lead in the third set, taking an 8-0 lead. The TexAnns stretched their lead to 12-2 and TAMUK couldn't get closer than eight after that. TSU closed the afternoon by grabbing the last three points, Amber Strange ending the match with her 10th kill.
The TexAnns totaled 39 kills and 40 digs to go with a .326 hitting percentage, besting TAMUK's marks of 28 finishers, 37 scoops and a kill rate of .081. Strange led both teams with 10 kills and a .529 success rate on 17 attacks.
TAMUK has one more match on tap today, as they'll play St. Mary's at 2:30 p.m. Fans can keep up with Javelina volleyball throughout the season by following @JavelinaVB on Twitter and @javelinasports and @JavelinaVB on Instagram, liking Javelina Volleyball on Facebook and visiting Javelinasports.com to keep up with Javelina volleyball all year long.
