KINGSVILLE, Texas – Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team is hitting the road this week for the first time in 2023, as they compete in the Yellow Jacket Classic hosted by Black Hills State in Spearfish, South Dakota.
The Javelinas will take on four out of conference opponents, two from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines, and two from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in the University of Mary and Northern State.
TAMUK's first match is set for 1 p.m. Central, against South Dakota Mines on Friday (Sept. 8), followed by a 5 p.m. match against Northern State.
The team will wrap up the invitational on Saturday (Sept. 9) with matches against UMary and Black Hills State scheduled for 2 and 6 p.m.
All matches will be free to watch on the RMAC Network.
The Blue and Gold head into the tournament with a 4-0 record after a perfect opening weekend at home in the TAMUK Invitational.
Headlining the four wins was a 3-1 victory over South Central Region opponent Colorado State Pueblo, and then a 3-2 come from behind win against a #RV Quincy team.
The Javelinas were led by reigning Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week, Jackie Alanis who posted 44 kills and a .412 attacking percentage while starting every set of the invitational.
An LSC preseason player to watch, Alanis saved her best for last posting 13 kills, her highest mark on the weekend in TAMUK's win over Qunicy.
As a team the Javelinas recorded a .293 attacking percentage through 15 total sets while holding opponents to only a mark of .155.
Junior, Ayanna Jackson dominated defensively in the middle for the Blue and Gold, recording 20 total blocks throughout the tournament averaging 1.33 blocks per set.
Scouting South Dakota Mines
The Hardrockers opened 2023 going 3-1 last weekend with their only loss coming against Montana State Moorhead in the opening game of the campaign.
SDM went on to only drop one set across the next three matches including a later 3-0 win over MSU Moorhead to end their tournament.
Mines has a young roster that includes 8 total freshman this season and two junior college transfers replacing 7 seniors from last year's team.
Scouting Northern State
The Wolves head into the weekend with a 3-1 record following a trip to Arkansas to kick off 2023.
Northern is hitting .215 through four matches, averaging 12.1 kills, 11.2 assists, 18.6 digs, 2.4 blocks, and 1.8 aces per set.
The NSU defense held their opponents to a .072 attack percentage a weekend ago, averaging under ten kills and assists per set.
Morissen Samuels opened her freshman campaign leading the team with 46 kills, while Abby Brooks hit a team high .410 and led the net defense with 12.0 blocks.
Scouting UMary
The Marauders enter the weekend with a 2-2 record led by Ally Gruber who led the team in kills with 43 and a .237 hitting percentage across the team's first weekend of competition.
Closely following Gruber is Nehkya Ellis who had 40 kills last weekend including a team-high 14 kills against Montana State Billings.
Last weekend, the Marauders knocked off LSC foe Lubbock Christian, 3-0.
Scouting Black Hills State
BHSU opened 2023 with a 3-1 record over their own, notching wins over Southeastern Oklahoma (3-1), Minot State (3-1), and the University of Mary (3-0).
Black Hills is hitting .209 this season, averaging 12.6 kills, 11.5 assists, 14.9 digs, 1.6 blocks, and 2.4 aces per set.
Abigail Renner leads the offense with 62 kills, while Audry Brgoch is hitting a team best .239.
Hannah Lamon has 181 assists on the year, averaging 10.65 per set.
The defense is led by Haedyn Rhoades with 95 digs, averaging 5.59 per set, and Randi Wellhoefer with 12.0 blocks.
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
