KINGSVILLE, Texas – For the first time in nearly two years, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team is coming off back-to-back losses, but they'll have a chance to regain the form they showed during their 8-0 start during a weekend at home in which they'll lock horns with a pair of Lone Star Conference foes.
On Friday at 6 p.m., the Javelinas will take on the Texas Woman's Pioneers inside the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas, followed by a Saturday clash with the Dallas Baptist Patriots set for 1 p.m.
"Based on this past weekend, we learned a lot about ourselves," said coach Tanya Allen. "This week, we're going to do a lot preparation on our side of the net, fixing some footwork issues, seeing the court a little bit better, transition a little bit better, things that will make us perform at a high level. These two teams are kind of different, but I think if we handle things on our side of the net, the game gets better."
One of the bright spots for TAMUK in its two defeats was the play of junior libero Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas), who averaged 7.67 digs per set in those two matches, improving what was already a conference-best mark in that statistic to 6.06. Only six players in the nation are currently averaging more digs per set than Murff and she owns a rate of 7.33 over her team's last five matches, racking up 28 against Texas A&M International in the Javs' last match at home.
That last home match against the Dustdevils resulted in the Javelinas' 10th straight home victory and their sixth consecutive sweep at home, a run that includes their final three matches at the SPEC in the spring. TAMUK has dropped just two sets over the course of their current win streak in Kingsville and they've outhit opponents .282 to .103 during their first three home contests. Going all the way back to September of 2019, the Javs are 16-2 at home with Murff in the lineup.
The first team trying to put an end to that run will be the Pioneers, who spent the previous weekend shaking off a skid in which they'd lost six of seven matches to earn consecutive wins over Cameron and Midwestern State. One of TWU's most potent weapon during those two triumphs was the service ace, as they racked up 13 in just eight sets. Eight of those aces came from junior Bailey Wozniak, who also owns an average of 0.78 aces per set for the season, better than anyone else in the LSC.
Few teams in the LSC are hotter than DBU at the moment. The Patriots enter the weekend riding a five-match win streak, with their most recent victory coming on Tuesday over Southeastern Oklahoma. In their first season under new head coach Jordan Fish, DBU has already more than doubled their win total from the spring as they aim for their first winning season since 2015.
Fish arrived in Dallas after four seasons leading the volleyball program at Hill College, where she was named district coach of the year three times and led the Rebels to the national tournament on multiple occasions. She also helped develop four players who became All-Americans.
In her first year helming the Patriots, Fish's pupils include two of the best players in the conference at their positions in outside hitter Halee van Poppel and libero Leah Palensky. Van Poppel is averaging 4.65 kills per set, tops in the LSC and third in the nation, while Palenksy trails only Murff on the LSC leaderboard in digs per set. Van Poppel's numbers include three matches in which she's topped 20 kills and she also has claimed five double-doubles, with her total of 110 digs for the season ranking second on the DBU roster.
Keep up with all the action at the SPEC throughout the weekend by visiting Javelinaathletics.com, where links can be found for live video, up-to-the-minute stats as recaps at the end of each match. 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.
