KINGSVILLE, Texas – Senior Melanie Casteel (Dallas, Texas) churned out 18 kills and sophomore Emily North (Red Oak, Texas) picked up her second consecutive double-double in a 28-26, 25-23, 25-21 sweep of the Westminster Griffins on Thursday night at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas during the Emerald Beach Hotel Javelina Volleyball Invitational.
"We bounced back a little," said coach Tanya Allen. "Our offense was a little better. I still think we have some work to do on our blocking, but I think it was nice to see some improvement offensively."
Casteel committed only three errors on 34 attacks and that, coupled with her 18 smashes, tops for the match, put her hit percentage at .441. This is the third time in six matches she's finished with a kill rate over .400.
North's 31 assists were accompanied by a season-high 16 digs, just two off the team-high set by sophomore Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas), and two aces. North's sets helped the Javelina offense hit .203 on 137 attacks, totaling 46 kills with 18 errors.
Neither side held a lead of more than three in a first set that included 15 ties. The Javelinas (5-1) erased one of those three-point leads with a 5-1 stretch that saw Casteel collect a pair of blocks and a kill and was capped by a finisher provided by Murff. Westminster (2-3) continued to battle however, and went ahead late, 22-20. The Javs had another run in them at that point and senior Talleyshia Morris (Tulsa, Okla.) sparked the home side with consecutive smashes to set off a stretch of four straight, making the score 24-22. The Griffins tied things up three times before a Casteel kill and a ball handling error pushed TAMUK in front.
The second game was almost a carbon copy of the first, with Westminster slowly building an early, 8-5 lead before a 7-1 Javelina run put them ahead. Five different players contributed points during that stretch, with junior Meghan Merlino (Sacramento, Calif.) providing an ace. The Griffins soon stole the lead back, 15-14 and the rest of the frame included nine ties, including one at 23. After an attack error put the Javs at set point, Murff came up with clutch ace for the final score and a 2-0 edge.
Casteel and Merlino started the third stanza with kills and the Javelinas never trailed as they sealed their fourth sweep of the year. A quick 5-1 burst capped with a Jordan Schenkel (San Antonio, Texas) ace stretch TAMUK's lead to six before the visitors drew even at 17 and 18. Three of the next four rallies ended with Casteel kills and when North uncorked an ace, the Javs were back in control at 23-19. Casteel and freshman Grace Gettys (New Braunfels, Texas) accounted for the final two points of the night.
Two more matches are on tap for the Javelinas on Friday, when they'll take on Augustana at 1 p.m. and Edinboro 7:30 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.
