KINGSVILLE, Texas – For the final time in the 2021 regular season, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team is preparing for a weekend at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas and the two matchups on the schedule include a Friday night scrap with the St. Edward's Hilltoppers that will start at 6 p.m., followed by a Saturday afternoon clash with the St. Mary's Rattlers, set to begin at 1 p.m.
Among the events on the docket for the upcoming weekend is Senior Day on Saturday. Seniors Kelsi Luckenbach (Calallen, Texas), Meghan Merlino (Sacramento, Calif.), Kapri Pelle (Auburn, Calif.), Alexa Ruiz (Schertz, Texas) and Emily Witt (Rose Hill, Kan.) will all be honored in a ceremony before TAMUK's match against St. Mary's.
These five seniors were all members of the 2020-21 Javelina volleyball squad that put together the program's first-ever undefeated regular season and captured the LSC South Division Championship. Together, they've amassed over 700 kills, nearly 600 assists and 1,184 digs while helping the Javs rise as high as No. 6 in the national rankings.
"They're good kids," said coach Tanya Allen. "They're all different, different personalities, different majors. I think there are going to be a lot of different career paths for them and I'm excited to see their success after volleyball. They're a really good group and they've been a lot of fun."
In order to accomplish the goal of sending out their seniors with one more successful weekend at home, the Javelinas will have to find success against a pair of teams, who, like TAMUK, are battling for position in the Lone Star Conference Tournament.
The Hilltoppers and the Javs both own 6-7 conference marks that have them in a tie with Eastern New Mexico in 10th, while the Rattlers are one better at 7-6 in the LSC, even with Dallas Baptist and Arkansas-Fort Smith in eighth. The team that emerges from the scrum as the No. 8 seed earns a home game in the conference tournament's opening round.
Coach Stefanie Holler's SEU team has been in the midst of an up-and-down campaign that's seen them recently snap a four-match losing skid with back-to-back home victories. The Hilltoppers will provide a challenge for the Javelinas in serve receive, as SEU can claim the LSC's second-high average in aces per set at 1.68. Both Caroline Swan and Maya Smalls own spots in the conference's top 10 in that statistic.
The list of contributions for Smalls, an all-conference selection in the spring goes beyond aces, however. She owns her team's highest hitting percentage at .284, a number that includes a match on Oct. 22nd in which she hit .591 at the expense of Oklahoma Christian. Smalls has also collected 55 total blocks, also tops on the roster, with a season-high of six coming on Sept. 3rd against Adams St.
In the program's first year under new head coach Laura Ulrich, the Rattlers have been transformed from a team that managed only two wins in the spring to a squad that sits at 13-7 overall in the fall with their eyes on a home match in the LSC Tournament. Ulrich currently has StMU on track for what would be program's second winning season since 2013.
One of the main contributors to the Rattlers recent success has been senior outside hitter Alissa Tolbert, whose 273 kills are the most in the LSC. Tolbert has posted a double-double in 16 of her team's matches, including a 28-kill, 24-dig evening against West Texas A&M on Oct. 8th. She's also the only Rattler who has started every match for StMU in the fall.
Links to live video and up-to-the minute stats for both matches will be available through Javelinaathletics.com, the same place you can find a recap of each match following the final point. 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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