KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team began conference play on a high note besting the Texas A&M International Dustdevils inside the Steinke Physical Education Center on Wednesday night, 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-16).
The victory brings TAMUK to 9-3 on the season starting them off, 1-0 in Lone Star Conference play and sets the Dustdevils to 7-5 on the season dropping them to 0-1 in league play.
"I Thought we played really well, especially in the middle" said head coach
Tanya Allen-Gonzalez. "That's something that starts our offense, when our middles are getting kills it opens everything up."
Middle blocker
Jeri Ficklen put together a strong performance in the win, hitting .571 with nine kills. This coming after a stellar 11 kill performance against the St. Mary's Rattlers where she executed at a .611 clip.
Not far behind, Junior
Ayanna Jackson recorded eight kills in the win.
The Javelinas came out strong defensively having Ficklen record 7 blocks and two players with double-digit digs
Isabel Neu (12) and
Meghan Stiefer (11).
Starting off hot the Javelinas took an early 4-1 lead following a trio of kills by Senior
Jackie Alanis, Stiefer, and Ficklen. The Dustdevils kept it close until a six-point surge led to a 17-9 Javelina lead featuring an ace by Alanis. From there, TAMUK kept the opposition at arm's length until a TAMIU miscue ended the set 25-17.
Not to be deterred, the Dustdevils took an 8-5 lead in the second set and kept it close trimming a later deficit to two, until they ultimately fell to the Javelinas following a Ficklen kill to close out the set.
The third set was all Javelinas as they gained the lead 9-7 and never looked back, going on a 7-0 run and ultimately coming out on top 25-16.
The Javelinas are back in action Saturday September 23, as they face Western New Mexico at the SPEC for their 2 p.m. match against the Mustangs.
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
