ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Freshman Grace Gettys (New Braunfels, Texas) reached a new season-high with nine kills, but it was not enough for the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team, who suffered a 25-23, 25-17, 25-23 defeat against the Arkansas-Monticello Cotton Blossoms on Wednesday afternoon at the Duke Wells Center in Arkadelphia, Ark.
Gettys also committed only one error in 17 attacks for a hitting percentage of .471 and junior Roxanne Morris (Goliad, Texas) went without a mistake in 11 swings with seven smashes for a .636 kill rate. Sophomore Lauren Kadilis (Spring Branch, Texas) led all players in the match with 20 assists and sophomore Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) tallied 15 digs.
Trailing 7-6 in the opening game, the Javelinas used a 5-1 burst to jump ahead 11-8, but the Cotton Blossoms quickly responded by grabbing the next five points. They also used a 5-1 run of their own to move ahead 18-14 before TAMUK came back to tie. The teams then traded leads, UAM moving going ahead 21-19, the Javs coming back to go up, 23-22, but the last three points went to Arkansas-Monticello. A Halli Lambert service ace gave the first set to the Cotton Blossoms.
UAM started a run with the score knotted at 5-5 in set two, winning six of seven rallies after that for an 11-6 edge that later grew to 15-9. The Javelinas then used four straight points to slice that deficit to four and Morris provided two of those scores with an ace and a kill, but the Cotton Blossoms soon regained the momentum. They outscored the Javs 10-4 the rest of the way to go up two sets to none.
In the third set, it was the Javelinas who started fast, using stretches of 5-1 and 7-1 to build a 19-14 lead, but that's where the momentum swung. UAM took 10 straight points to push the contest to match point at 24-19. TAMUK managed to win four straight and close within one before Lambert's ninth smash clinched the sweep.
For the match, the Javelinas were held to a .161 hitting percentage, with 38 kills against 20 errors in 112 attacks. They logged seven blocks and three aces as well.
The Cotton Blossoms finished with a kill rate of .318, the highest the Javelinas have allowed in 2019. Their stats also included seven aces and six blocks without a blocking error.
The Javelinas will play once more on Wednesday, taking on Henderson State at 6:30 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.
