KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team swatted their way to a .317 hitting percentage with four players hitting better than .400 and this helped the Javelinas best the Southwest Baptist Bearcats 25-19, 25-19, 25-20 on Saturday afternoon at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas in TAMUK's final match at the Emerald Beach Hotel Javelina Volleyball Invitational.
"It was pretty important for us [to pick up this win]," said senior Melanie Casteel (Dallas, Texas), "to get our confidence up. It was tough to take some of the losses we did at this tournament. It was important to finish on a high note."
Casteel topped the Javelina leaderboard in kills against the Bearcats, churning out 12 with a .417 kill rate and committing only two errors. Freshman Grace Gettys (New Braunfels, Texsa) had only one mistake in 13 attacks while totaling eight smashes and junior Meghan Merlino (Sacramento, Calif.) led all players by posting a .667 clip with six kills.
Setting duties were split almost evenly between sophomores Lauren Kadilis (Spring Branch, Texas), who had 18, and Emily North (Red Oak, Texas), who had 17. Defensively, four different players collected multiple block assists and the Javs' 42 digs included a team-high 14 from sophomore Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas).
The first run in set one belonged to the Javelinas, who turned a 3-1 deficit into a 7-3 lead in a stretch that included two kills and a block assist from Casteel. The Bearcats closed to within 12-10 and, later 21-18, but the Javs never let go of the lead and the first set went to the home team following a bad set by Makenzie Bouse. On six chances in the first game, Gettys logged five kills without an error.
The Bearcats took the first three points in the second set and their lead still stood at two with the score reading 12-10. Of the next 14 points, 11 of them went to the Blue and Gold to put the home side ahead, 21-15. Casteel and senior Talleyshia Morris (Tulsa, Okla.) provided the first two kills and Casteel would later add another during the run, which gave her team an advantage SBU couldn't overcome. With TAMUK ahead 23-19 six points later, Casteel and Gettys picked up the final two points to make it two sets to none.
The third set started off with five ties, the last one at 5-5, before six of the next seven points were taken by the Javs thanks in part to two smashes by Casteel. The Bearcats sliced the deficit to two later in the frame following four straight scores, only to see their deficit quickly pushed back out six at 21-15. A Murff kill soon set up match point for TAMUK and Morris iced the contest with an ace.
A trip across state lines beckons for the Javelinas, who will take on Arkansas-Monticello and Henderson State on Wednesday in Arkadelphia, Ark. 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.
