KINGSVILLE, Texas – On a night filled with drama and tension inside the Steinke Physical Education Center, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team staged a remarkable comeback, eliminating a 2-0 deficit to knock off the No. 10 Tarleton Texans, 24-26, 11-25, 25-21, 25-21, 15-12 on Friday night in Lone Star Conference action.
"We got a 'W', so it's awesome," said coach Tanya Allen. "There's no need to criticize what happened because we found some way to get the win, but I am really proud of the demeanor we had and our energy and passion. Those are things we've been focusing on."
"It was also impressive to see kids come off the bench and perform well. Jordan Wonders had a really big game and with Emily [North] being a six-rotation player who hit in the front row, I thought she did a nice job. Meghan Merlino took some big swings on the outside. We had everybody contributing. I thought, as a team, everybody competed hard and we were well-rounded."
This represents the first win over a ranked team for the Javelinas since they defeated No. 24 Angelo State on Oct. 2, 2015. It is also their first comeback from a 2-0 deficit since Nov. 10, 2012, at Eastern New Mexico.
Contributions came from everywhere for TAMUK on this night. Six players hit double-digits in at least one category, not including sophomore Jordan Wonders (Corpus Christi, Texas), who had six kills without an error and hit .400, senior Talleyshia Morris (Tulsa, Okla.) who racked up seven blocks, and freshman Tammy Jo Grohman (San Antonio, Texas) and her six kills with five rejections.
Freshman Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) spent another night leading her team on defense, as she led all players with 28 digs. Junior Roxanne Morris (Goliad, Texas) added another 20 and freshman Jordan Schenkel (San Antonio, Texas) finished with 11. Sophomore Lauren Kadilis (Spring Branch, Texas) had 15 scoops with 30 assists for her third double-double of the year.
Junior Meghan Merlino (Sacramento, Calif.) led the way in kills with a season-high 14 and sophomore Emily North (Red Oak, Texas) churned out 12 smashes, a new career-high for her as a Javelina.
For much of the first game, the Javelinas seem poised to take the night's first lead in sets, but two separate runs by Tarleton overcame the hot start by the home side. With TSU holding 6-5 lead, the Javs won 10 of the next 14 points, a run sparked by a solo block from Grohman and capped off when she combined with senior Melanie Casteel (Dallas, Texas) for another rejection. TSU quickly regained the lead by tallying seven-in-a-row, but an 8-3 burst put TAMUK ahead 23-20 and they soon had the night's first set point at 24-22. However, Tarleton won four straight after that to capture the frame.
Tarleton captured the momentum quickly in the second set, counting five straight points to take the score from 4-3 to 9-3. They stretched their advantage to 19-7 with a 10-3 run and concluded the game by taking six of the last seven rallies, including a Lauren Kersey kill to put the visitors up two sets to none.
Through 34 points in set three, no team had a run of more than three straight scores and there had been 11 ties. The largest lead of the frame was an 11-8 edge held by TAMUK, but the Texans had fought back to tie and they later went ahead 19-17. That is when the momentum swung on three straight smashes by the Javelinas. A blast from North sparked the rally and Morris and Merlino followed suit to put the home team up by one. Tarleton matched the Javs at 20-20, but North, Morris and Merlino each scored again as TAMUK tallied four-in-a-row to reach set point. On her team's second set point, Merlino let loose with her 10th finisher of the night to claim the frame for the Blue and Gold.
The sides traded leads in the early part of the fourth game, but a 7-1 run for the Javelinas put them ahead 9-5. That lead was soon erased by five straight points for Tarleton put the score at 12-12 and TSU used a 3-0 burst to take a slim, 17-15 advantage soon after. It was all Javs after that. An 8-3 run that included two smashes from Wonders and was finished by a rocket from North to send the match to a decisive fifth set.
The Blue and Gold continued riding their wave of momentum into the final game, racing out to a 5-0 lead and never looking back. When TSU sliced their deficit to two, Grohman sent in a kill, combined with Wonders block while North uncorked an ace to stop any uprising. The Javs pushed their lead back to five and were ahead 14-9 at match point. After the visitors thwarted the first three match points, Merlino ended the night by firing one across the floor for the clincher.
The Javelinas don't have to wait long for a chance to bounce back with Dallas Baptist invading the SPEC on Saturday for a 2 p.m. match.
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.
