KINGSVILLE, Texas – For the first time in the 2019 season, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team has lost consecutive matches, having dropped contests against Arkansas-Fort Smith, Midwestern State and Texas Woman's, but a chance to end this losing streak has come in the form of consecutive matches at home and will give the Javelinas the opportunity to improve on a 7-3 record at the Steinke Physical Education Center during the current season.
The first challenge for coach Tanya Allen's squad will be a Friday night match against the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs that will begin at 6 p.m. at the SPEC. Less than 24 hours later, the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds will be in Kingsville to take on TAMUK at 2 p.m.
"We just need to take it one game at a time," said Allen. "We can't look too far ahead. The conference tournament is still quite a ways off as far as we're concerned. We have a lot of matches between now and then that could make or break our postseason."
The Lady Buffs are sitting in second place in their division, with records of 6-2 in divisional play, 9-3 in the conference and 16-4 overall. The Buffs are also on a four-game win streak that includes their most recent weekend of play, in which they did not drop a set while topping UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico.
For the first time since 2009, there is a new coach guiding the WT volleyball program. Kendra Potts was named the 15th head coach in program history on Dec. 10th 2018 after a career that included several seasons within shouting distance of Kingsville. For four years, she was the club director and recruiting coordinator for the Corpus Christi Force club volleyball team. Prior to that she spent six seasons as an assistant at A&M-Corpus Christi and helped lead the Islanders to 94 wins during her time there.
In her first year in Canyon, Potts has constructed a roster that includes multiple players who sit among the conference leaders in one statistic or another. The headliner of the group is freshman Torrey Miller, who leads the conference and is ninth in the nation in kills per set at 4.29. She's reached 20 kills in a match four times, including one contest with 26 in a win over Lubbock Christian. The second Lady Buff leading the conference in a statistic is junior libero Chandler Vogel, who has seized the LSC's top spot in digs per set at 5.60. Nationally, her dig rate puts her 22nd.
"They have one of the better right side players in the conference," said Allen. "She has a huge arm and is very athletic. They have a really good offense in general. [Potts] has done a good job of implementing a versatile offense, so we're going to have to step up our defense make sure we're slowing down some of those arms. We'll also have to pass better."
The season for Eastern New Mexico has looked very different from that of West Texas. The Greyhounds, at 0-8, are still searching for their first win in their division and they are 1-11 in the LSC and 3-17 overall. ENMU enters the weekend attempting to snap a five-game losing streak and they're also looking for their first win of the year in a true road game.
The most formidable presence on coach Katie Burnett's roster is junior outside hitter Jasmine Gannon. A year ago, she garnered an All-LSC first-team selection and was also named to the conference's all-tournament team. She is again leading the Greyhounds in kills per set with an average of 2.51 and she's reached double digits in that category in four consecutive matches.
Despite their recent skid, the Javelinas are still only a half-game behind the St. Edward's Hilltoppers for the top spot in their division with a 5-1 record. The Javs are 7-5 in conference play and 16-10 overall. TAMUK has continued to rate as one of the best defensive teams in the Lone Star Conference, ranking near the top of the league in opponent hitting percentage, as well as blocks and digs per set.
Sophomore Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) has maintained her status as one of the best liberos in Division II. Her 542 digs are the sixth-most in the country and, for the second straight year, put her in the top 10 in program history for a single season. Murff's current average of 5.14 digs per set in her career is far and away the best in program history and she's 15 scoops away from moving into 10th-place on the Javelinas' all-time leaderboard for total digs. The last time the Lady Buffs came to Kingsville, Murff was at her best, recording 36 scoops, her second-highest total of 2018.
Sophomore Lauren Kadilis (Spring Branch, Texas) has continued to fill up the stat sheet during her first season in Blue and Gold. Against Midwestern State on Friday, she logged her eighth double-double of the year, tied with another sophomore, Emily North (Red Oak, Texas), for the most on the team. Against the Mustangs, Kadilis passed out 36 helpers, a total surpassed only by the 38 she finished with against St. Mary's on Oct. 12th. Her average of 5.72 assists per set puts her in the LSC's top 10 and is accompanied by the third-highest dig total on the Javelina roster.
"[Lauren]'s taking steps in the right direction," said Allen. "She's an athletic kid and she competes hard, which are two things you can't really teach. She's learning and taking it step-by-step. As long as she's improving, then the whole team is getting better."
Live coverage of both TAMUK matches on the SPEC, including live video and stats, will be available via Javelinaathletics.com. A recap will be published on the site at the end of each match. You can keep up with Javelina volleyball all season long by following @JavelinaVB and @JavelinaSports on Twitter and Instagram, visiting TAMUK Volleyball on Facebook, subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel and visiting Javelinaathletics.com. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
