KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team closed out tournament play on a positive note beating the St. Mary's Rattlers, 3-0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-23).
The win brings TAMUK to 8-3 on the season and sets the stage for the beginning of conference play.
"We really put an emphasis on our middle blockers attacking," said head coach
Tanya Allen-Gonzalez. "We did not do that as well yesterday, but we put an emphasis on getting our hitting percentage up from there and we did a great job with that today."
Sophomore middle blocker
Jeri Ficklen put together a strong performance in the win, with a .611 hitting percentage and 11 Kills on the afternoon.
Ficklen was one of three Javelinas to record double digit kills and a hitting percentage over .500 along with junior
Ayanna Jackson (12 Kills, .550%), and senior
Jackie Alanis (12 Kills .500%).
Both squads came out the gates strong in set one battling back and forth with 15 ties and 6 lead changes. The Javelinas took the set having to go to 26 to get it done.
Rylan Pollard delivered a pivotal performance in the set, with 5 Kills, 6 Assists, and 5 digs.
The Rattlers started strong in the second set tying the match 7 times but ultimately falling behind thanks in part to a 10-5 run put up by the Javelinas after the 15-12 point.
St. Mary's jumped out in front early to a 6-2 lead in the set, but after an overturned challenge the Javelinas fought from behind to make it 12 all.
From that point on it was a race to the finish line as the Javelinas outlasted the Rattlers in a nail biting third set, sealing the deal with a 25-23 victory.
The Javelinas are back in action Wednesday September 20th, as they face Texas A&M International at the SPEC for their 6 p.m. match against the Dustdevils.
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
