KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team got off to a hot start with a pair of road wins over the St. Edward's Hilltoppers on Jan. 26th and 27th, but since then it's been nothing but waiting for the Javelinas, with their last two matches being postponed. That waiting will end on Tuesday, when they'll begin their home schedule by taking on the Texas A&M International Dustdevils at 6 p.m., then they'll battle the same team at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
The Javs will be looking to recapture the form they showed against the Hilltoppers, where senior Roxanne Morris (Goliad, Texas) and freshman Ayanna Jackson (San Antonio, Texas) were among the players who seized the spotlight. Morris registered double-doubles in each match and her 45 assists in the season opener were the most on a single night by a Javelina since Sept. of 2018. Her 9.63 assists per set was the Lone Star Conference's best average in the first week and she added 32 digs, the second-highest total on the squad.
No one on the TAMUK roster enters the season's third week averaging more kills per set or blocks per set than Jackson, who is also in the conference's top 10 in both statistics, as well as hitting percentage. The 21 kills she piled up in her team's second victory were the most by a Javelina freshman since 2017 and she reached that number while only committing three errors on 37 attacks for a .486 kill rate.
"She's a phenomenal athlete," said coach Tanya Allen of Jackson after her team's second win. "She jumps well, she has a great arm and is fast off the ground. She's very confident and I really like her energy as a freshman. She's super competitive and when it got close, you could tell she really wanted the ball."
The Dustdevils will be in action for the third straight week and they shook off an 0-3 start on Thursday to nip SEU in five sets. The triumph was the first in the TAMIU career of coach Brittany Harry, who took over the program in January of 2020 after spending the previous five years as the head coach at Laredo College. Harry compiled a record of 84-65 while at LC and 18 of her student-athletes earned all-region honors.
The stars of the show in Harry's first victory were outside hitter Mackenzie Catalina, who fired off 26 kills, and setter Maison Kosse, who passed out 48 assists and recorded 10 digs. Catalina's kill total was the highest in a single match by anyone in the Lone Star Conference through the season's first two weeks and her average of 4.0 kills per set average puts her at the top of the conference leaderboard.
Catalina, Kosse and their teammates will be attempting to break a three-game losing streak to the Javelinas, who've also taken 14 of their last 16 matchups against the Dustdevils and lead the all-time series 17-9. Two of TAMIU's last three wins over the Javelinas have come in Kingsville, including a four-set victory in 2015.
Links to live video and stats for each match will be available through Javelinaathletics.com, where you'll also be able to find complete postgame coverage, including a recap and interviews. Keep up with 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. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
