KINGSVILLE, Texas – Junior Emily Witt (Rose Hill, Kan.) handed out 29 assists while freshman Ayanna Jackson (San Antonio, Texas) hit .500 with eight kills and added four blocks as the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team cruised to a 25-17, 25-14, 25-23 sweep of the Texas Woman's Pioneers in Lone Star Conference action on Friday night at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
This win marks 11 straight home victories for the Javelinas, who are 9-2 overall in the fall and 4-2 in conference. The Pioneers are now 3-4 in the LSC and 7-10 overall.
"We talked a lot about, offensively, making better decisions and not getting so many unforced errors," said coach Tanya Allen. "I thought we did a better job on it, especially because all week, we worked on our approaches and we tried to extend it a little bit. That's a difficult task for some of the kids and I thought they did a nice job of that tonight.
"We definitely had a few too many ups and downs again. I think there are some things we can iron out and get better, but I'm glad they put it together."
Jackson's match-best .500 kill rate came on 12 attacks while she committed only two errors and her block total also led all players. Witt's 29 helpers also paced both squads and her stat line included six digs, three aces and three finishers without an error on eight tries.
At the top of TAMUK's leaderboard for kills were sophomore Jackie Alanis (McAllen, Texas) and junior Kailey Estrada (San Antonio, Texas), both of whom had 10. Junior Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) finished at the top of the scoresheet with 17 digs.
The teams spent much of the opening frame trading points, but the Javelinas broke a 10-10 tie by winning nine of the next 13 rallies, a stretch that included multiple blocks by Jackson and two Estrada kills. The Pioneers couldn't overcome their 19-14 deficit and the Javs closed the set by winning the final four points, the last one coming on a TWU attack error.
The Javelinas never trailed in the second game, racing out to an 11-3 lead, then regaining control after TWU sliced that lead to 11-10. The Javs responded by taking the next four rallies, then, with the score at 16-12, they reeled off eight-in-a-row to reach set point. The latter run included multiple scores by Alanis and Estrada and was capped off by smash courtesy of Witt. TWU survived two set-points, but another rocket from Estrada on the third boosted the home team to a 2-0 edge.
In the third set, the Pioneers seemed intent on pushing the match to a fourth stanza, claiming a 13-8 lead, but TAMUK answered with an 11-3 run, capped off by five consecutive tallies. Alanis contributed four successful attacks during that spurt, which put the Blue and Gold ahead, 19-16. Four times the Pioneers came back to close within one, but the Javelinas wouldn't let them tie the score. The last instance came at 24-23, when Jackson put the matter to bed with a perfectly placed poke for her 10th kill.
The Javelinas don't have to wait long to get back on the court, as they'll face Dallas Baptist at the SPEC at 1 p.m. on Saturday. 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.
