KINGSVILLE, Texas – Sophomore Kelsi Luckenbach (Calallen, Texas) reeled off 15 kills and junior Emily Witt (Rose Hill, Kan.) picked up her ninth double-double in as many matches to help guide the No. 10 Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team past the St. Mary's Rattlers, 25-20, 25-19, 25-16, in Lone Star Conference action on Wednesday night at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
The Javelinas remain one of only two undefeated teams in the LSC at 11-0. St. Mary's has dropped nine straight and is now 2-9.
Witt kept her streak of double-doubles intact with a team-high 27 assists and 13 digs and she also contributed four kills and four total blocks. Luckenbach finished one off her career-high with 15 kills and committed only four errors for a .314 attack percentage. Junior Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) contributed 16 digs to lead TAMUK in that statistic and senior Roxanne Morris (Goliad, Texas) added 11 scoops.
The sides exchanged leads multiple times early in the first set before StMU went ahead 11-9. After a period in which the teams exchanged scores five times, a pair of smashes from Morris sparked a 5-1 TAMUK run that put the home team ahead, 19-17. The Rattlers closed to within one at 21-20 before four straight Blue and Gold points, capped by a Murff ace, ended the opener, 25-20.
A 9-0 Javelina run started the second game and although the Rattlers eventually whittle that lead down to three at 19-16, they could never draw even. Consecutive blocks by junior Kailey Estrada (San Antonio, Texas) at that point helped up the margin back to six and an StMU attack error a few rallies later put the finishing touches on a 2-0 TAMUK advantage.
There were four ties in the third set, the last of which occurred at 12-12 following a Hailey Harmon kill for the visitors, but the Javs took over from there. They won six of the next seven points to take an 18-13 advantage and never looked back. The Javelinas completed the night by winning seven of the last nine rallies and a Rattler attack error provided the clinching tally.
The Javelina regular season will come to an end on Saturday, when they meet St. Mary's in San Antonio for a 1 p.m. match. 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.
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