SAN ANGELO, Texas – For the first time in the fall of 2021, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team was defeated, falling to the No. 3 Angelo State Rambelles, 25-15, 25-21, 25-18 on Friday night in Lone Star Conference action at the Stephens Arena at the Junell Center in San Angelo, Texas.
This loss drops the Javelinas to 8-1 on the season and 3-1 in LSC play and ends the program's 20-game regular season win streak that dates back to the start of the spring campaign. The Rambelles improve to 12-2 overall and 5-0 in conference.
"Angelo did well blocking the ball," said coach Tanya Allen, "and it slowed down our offense. We struggled to pass serve receive until the third set and that also made it tough to score. I'm confident we will learn from this and be even stronger tomorrow."
Junior Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) led all players in digs with 21, while junior Emily Witt (Rose Hill, Kan.) registered a double-double with 25 assists and 12 scoops. Freshman Ayanna Jackson (San Antonio, Texas) topped the TAMUK leaderboard for the night with eight kills.
The Rambelles wasted little time seizing the momentum in the first set, grabbing an 8-2 lead, and they never looked back, going ahead by as many as 10 before a kill by Kailyn Gilbreath put the 25th point in the books. ASU hit .229 during the frame, while holding TAMUK to a .000 hitting percentage.
The teams spent the early stages of the second stanza trading points until a stretch in which the Javs won five out of six staked the visitors to a 13-9 advantage. The Rams quickly erased their deficit however, going on a 10-2 run and they never let the Javelinas get closer than two points after that. A Sophia Berg smash closed out the set with ASU ahead, 2-0.
The Javelinas had a 4-3 lead in the beginning stages of the third set, but ASU took control after that and never let go. They recorded eight straight points to make the score 11-4 and later increased their lead to 17-7. The Javs put together a run late in the set, taking six of eight over one period, but Gilbreath put an end to that spurt with the night's final kill.
The Javelinas can rebound on Saturday when they visit the Lubbock Christian Lady Chaps for a 2 p.m. match at the Rip Griffin Center. Keep up with Javelina volleyball all season long by following @Javelina_VB and @JavelinaSports on Twitter, @JavelinaVB and @JavelinaSports on Instagram, liking TAMUK Volleyball on Facebook, subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel and visiting Javelinaathletics.com.
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