KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team hosted the West Texas Lady Buffs Friday bringing them to the Steinke Physical Education Center for the first time since 2019, where they dropped the match in five sets (25-19, 23-25, 25-18, 22-25, 12-15).
The Javelinas (18-9, 10-5 LSC) came into Friday after dropping a four-set match against the St. Mary's Rattlers on the road in San Antonio, Texas.
"I am proud of my team" said head coach
Tanya Allen-Gonzalez. "Tonight was a tough loss against a very good team. But, I believe in this group and still believe we have good things to come this season!"
The Javelinas ended the day with a .146 hitting percentage and 12 blocks while the Lady Buffs had 17 blocks in the evening. The Javelinas did, however, limit West Texas to a .083 hitting percentage on the day having more kills in every set except for the fourth. Senior outside hitter
Allison Stachowiak shined for the Javelinas having 11 kills and a .200 hitting percentage, the highest percentage for anyone over 20 attempts for the Javelinas and second highest in the whole match.
Set one began with the Javelinas coming out of the gates strong as they battled point for point until tying the set at 10 apiece. The Javelinas then went on an impressive 9-1 run making it a 19-11 set, before the Lady buffs went on a 7-0 run coming within one of the Javelinas who were still on top at this point 19-18. The Javelinas took back off again going on a 6-1 run ending set one 25-19.
Set number two saw another tightly contested set as there were 5 tie scores the whole time with only one lead change. Both squads tied at 5 early until the Lady Buffs went on a 6-2 run making it 7-11 in favor of WT. The set looked sealed as West Texas had a 20-15 lead before the Javelinas rattled off five straight tying things late at 20 apiece. West Texas took a timeout killing the Javelina momentum and came out of it putting up three straight making it 23-20. The Javelinas took a timeout themselves as they came out and took two getting within striking distance 23-22. The Lady buffs however would end the set only allowing one more Javelina point putting set two at 25-23.
The third set the only of the five that didn't have a lead change as the Javelinas dominated starting the set off 7-2. The Lady Buffs however went on a 5-0 run and tied things at 8-8. Later in the set the Javelinas went on a 7-2 run making things 17-12 before a timeout was called. The Javelinas would finalize set three going on one final 8-4 stretch ending set three 25-18.
Set four saw the Javelinas early and Lady Buffs late as things started out with a 4-1 Javelina lead. The Lady Buffs pulled in front 7-5 before a 9-0 Javelina run made it 14-7. Both squads were battling for a bit before the Javelinas found themselves in a 19-13 set four and on the verge of upsetting the #5 ranked Lady Buffs. With the score 20-15 with the Javelinas in front, the Lady buffs went on a 10-2 run to end set four and force a set five.
The fifth and final set had five tie scores getting to the 6-6 point before a 3-0 Lady Buff run made it a 9-6 score. This 3-0 run along with another at the 11-10 mark in the match was enough to get it done for the Lady Buffs as they made it 14-10 match point before the Javelinas began to go on a run of their own rattling off two straight. The Lady buffs would put the dagger in the run ending the match at 15-12.
The Javelinas are back at the Steinke Physical Education Center one last time as they match up against the Cameron Aggies Saturday November 11
th at 2:00 PM.
Fans can follow Javelina volleyball all season long via Javelinaathletics.com, where they'll find links to live video and stats and a recap at the end of each match.
Stay up-to-date with everything related to Javelina volleyball all season long by following @Javelina_VB and @JavelinaSports on X, @JavelinaVB and @JavelinaSports on Instagram, liking TAMUK Volleyball on Facebook, subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel and visiting Javelinaathletics.com
