SALT LAKE CITY – Three different players contributed at least 10 kills and four Javelinas reached double figures in digs as the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team earned a 22-25, 25-21, 25-17, 26-24 triumph over the Westminster Griffins on Wednesday evening in Salt Lake City at the Behnken Field House.
This makes three straight wins for the Javs, who have boosted their record to 11-2, while Westminster falls to 3-14.
"I'm proud of the way we battled tonight," said coach Tanya Allen. "The girls showed they have some grit and resiliency. We have some true competitors on this team."
The leader of the kill parade for TAMUK was sophomore Jackie Alanis (McAllen, Texas), who accumulated 12, followed by junior Kailey Estrada (San Antonio, Texas) with 11 and freshman Ayanna Jackson (San Antonio, Texas) with 10. Jackson's committed only two errors on 21 attacks and her .381 hitting percentage was a team-high.
On this night, no one could match Emily Witt's (Rose Hill, Kan.) total of 40 assists and she also topped the Javs in digs with 17. Not far behind was classmate Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) and sophomore Jordan Schenkel (San Antonio, Texas) with 14 each and senior Alexa Ruiz (Schertz, Texas) registered 13 scoops.
Neither side could find much breathing room in the opener until the Griffins collected three-points-in-a-row to break a 19-19 tie. The Javs closed to within one point multiple times, but couldn't even the score again and Katie Jacox's kill put the home team up a set. WC outhit TAMUK in the first, .244 to .159.
The second frame looked like it belonged to both teams at various times, until the Javs stormed back to take it and even things up. TAMUK started the set by winning five of the first six points and still owned a four-point lead moments later at 9-5, but the Griffins then went on a run of their own. WC cobbled together a 9-3 burst that staked them to a 20-16 edge and forced the visitors to burn their second timeout. After that break, however, it was all Javelinas. Kills from sophomore Tammy Jo Grohman (San Antonio, Texas) and Alanis lit the fuse for a 9-1 spurt that put the stanza in TAMUK's column and was finished by a rejection courtesy of Jackson and freshman Allison Stachowiak (Brownsville, Texas) to even the set count at one apiece.
The Javelinas wasted no time establishing control of the third game, picking up the first 10 points, due in part to two Kailey Estrada smashes, as well as a kill and an ace courtesy of Murff. The Javs spent the rest of the set thwarting any comeback attempts by the Griffins and TAMUK locked up a 2-1 advantage by recording five of the last seven points, capped off by a well-placed attack by Stachowiak. TAMUK hit .222 in the third and held their hosts to a .083 mark.
Much like the second set, the fourth swung back-and-forth multiple times. A 9-5 lead for the Blue and Gold disappeared when the Griffins captured 11 of the next 13 rallies for a 16-11 advantage. TAMUK then staged its own comeback and, following consecutive kills from senior Kelsi Luckenbach (Calallen, Texas), the teams were all even at 19. After the Javelinas and the Griffins traded points five consecutive times, back-to-back smacks from Estrada provided the clinching tallies.
On Friday, the Javelinas will be in Tyler, Texas for a meeting with the No. 18 UT Tyler Patriots that is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Stay up-to-date with everything related to 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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