KINGSVILLE, Texas – Senior Talleyshia Morris (Tulsa, Okla.) racked up 10 total blocks and sophomore Jordan Wonders (San Antonio, Texas) finished with nine rejections and 10 kills to help the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team drop the Texas A&M International Dustdevils, 25-18, 26-28, 25-15, 25-18 on Thursday night in Lone Star Conference action at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
This victory puts the Javelinas at 3-0 in their division, where they remain in first place, and 4-1 in LSC play, with a 13-6 overall record. The Dustdevils are 0-3 in the division, 0-5 in the conference and 2-10 overall.
Morris' 10 blocks were a career-high and the most by a Javelina since Haley Hutchinson also churned out 10 against Western New Mexico on Sept. 7th, 2018. Morris also contributed eight kills with just one error in 18 attacks for a .389 hitting percentage.
Leading they way for the Javs on offense was Wonders with 10 smashes and a .471 kill rate. Both her 10 kills and her nine blocks were career-highs. Junior Roxanne Morris (Goliad, Texas) also finished with eight kills and sophomore Kelsi Luckenbach (Calallen, Texas) tossed in seven finishers and hit .357. Sophomore Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) fell just short of a double-double with a game-high 25 digs and nine assists.
The match's first four points all went to the Blue and Gold, including a block from Wonders and Talleyshia Morris. The lead was still at four later in the frame with the score 9-5, but the Javs then proceeded to win 10 of the next 14 rallies for a 19-9 advantage. The Dustdevils tried to organize a comeback, winning nine of 11 points during one stretch to make the score 21-18, but another burst of four straight points, the last on a kill from Wonders, gave the first set to the Javs.
Neither team could put any distance between them and their opponents in the next game, with TAMUK's 18-13 advantage being the largest separation in the set. TAMIU immediately used a run of six straight scores to gain a 19-18 and the lead went back-and-forth the rest of the way, changing hands four more times. The final instance came when the Dustdevils tallied three straight points, capped off by an Allison Wade smash, to take the set.
The visitors led early in the third game before the Javelinas snatched the momentum with a 9-1 run. Wonders picked up two kills during that period and Murff capped the run with an ace to make the score Javelinas 14, Dustdevils 8. The difference between the teams would get no smaller than five the rest of the way and the Javs notched seven of the final nine points, including two smashes from Luckenbach and a clinching ace courtesy of Murff.
After the fourth set began with a Javelina service error, two Roxanne Morris kills helped spark a rally that consisted of six straight scores for the home team. TAMUK built its lead to 10-3, only to see the Dustdevils slice it to two by stealing seven of the next nine points. Talleyshia Morris then helped the Javelinas win four-in-a-row, combining on three straight blocks to reestablish control for the Blue and Gold. TAMIU never got closer than five points after that and smashes from Luckenbach and Wonders put the finishing touches on TAMUK's 13th victory.
The Javelinas and Dustdevils and will meet again on Saturday, this time in Laredo, for a match at 1 p.m. To keep up with Javelina volleyball all season long, follow @JavelinaVB and @JavelinaSports on Twitter and Instagram, visit TAMUK Volleyball on Facebook, subscribe to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel and visit Javelinaathletics.com. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
