KINGSVILLE, Texas – The St. Edward's Hilltoppers got off to a fast start and never looked back, topping the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team, 25-12, 25-13, 25-17, on Friday night in Lone Star Conference action at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
For the Javelinas, they have now fallen to 6-8 in the LSC and 12-8 overall in 2021. St. Edward's improves its record to 7-7 in the conference and 12-9 for the season.
Junior Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) led all players in digs, recording 15 and sophomore Jackie Alanis (McAllen, Texas) ended the night atop the leaderboard in kills with 12. TAMUK's top player in assists was junior Emily Witt (Rose Hill, Kan.), who had 16.
The Hilltoppers hit .259 in the first set on their way to taking a 1-0 lead. They used a 7-0 run to turn a 5-3 lead into a 12-3 edge and prevented the Javelinas from finding the momentum to start a comeback before a kill from Jillienne Connell provided the frame's final point and gave SEU the early advantage.
The second game started with SEU in the driver's seat again, as they won the first five rallies, but the Javelinas cut into that lead and moved to within three at 14-11 after junior Kailey Estrada (San Antonio, Texas) let loose with a kill, then combined with Tammy Jo Grohman (San Antonio, Texas) for a block. Unfortunately for the home team, SEU then commenced a run pushed their lead to 19-11 and that deficit proved insurmountable. The final four points of the frame went to the Hilltoppers, capped by a Javelina attack error.
TAMUK came racing out of the gate in the third, utilizing three Alanis smashes to grab a 6-1 edge, but SEU's answer came quickly. The Hilltoppers won 15 of the next 17 points to turn their five point deficit into a 16-8 lead and they held on to the lead for the rest of the night. The clincher was applied by Emily Tran, securing the win for the visitors.
The Javs will be at home one last time on Saturday, which will also serve as Senior Day for TAMUK. The Javelinas will face St. Mary's at 1 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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