Kingsville - The Kingsville volleyball team is headed to Lubbock Christian and No.14 Angelo St. this Friday and Saturday respectively for a pair of Lone Star Conference matchups that begin a stretch of four-straight matches on the road.

After an 0-2 start in conference play, the Javelinas (10-5, 2-2 LSC) evened up their LSC record with back-to-back sweeps including a win over UT Permian Basin, who boasts perhaps the best defense in the conference and had won eight of their previous nine matches.

The team will look to add to its two-match win streak with a Friday night, 6 p.m. matchup in Lubbock before heading to San Angelo for a 2 p.m. Saturday matchup with the Rams.

"I am hoping for a strong performance from my team this weekend," Head Coach Tanya Allen Gonzalez said. "They have been putting in a lot of work at practice and I'd like to see those improvements show on the court."

Their first match of the weekend comes against a team that has similarly righted itself recently after struggling in its first matchups against conference foes. Despite a 4-7 start to the season, which included a five-match losing streak, Lubbock ended that streak by winning two of its last three matches - its only loss in that stretch coming at the hands of LSC-leading No. 9 West Texas A&M. 

Though their team numbers don't jump off the page, the Chaps have a number of big, efficient arms. Highlighting them is senior outside Kiana Fallaha, who ranks fourth in the conference in kills with 3.65 per set. Fallaha, who made the all-LSC Second Team for her work in her Junior campaign, hits .210 and averages 2.43 digs per set.

Complementing Fallaha are juniors, Bryleigh Schweer and Lily Bickley, who both rank among the top twelve hitters in the conference percentage-wise. Bickley hits .320 (12th) while Schweer hits .345 (8th). It should come as no surprise, then, that the squad's setter, senior Kayton Genenbacher, has been having an excellent season. Her 10.61 assists per set ranks 3rd in the LSC. 

The Javelinas will have to bring their A-game on Saturday as well, as they are visiting the No.14 team in the land, whose only two losses on the season came at the hands of other ranked teams. One of them, a sweep at the hands of No.9 West Texas A&M in Canyon, came just last weekend, which broke an 11-match win streak.

The Rams' offense is certainly one of the very best in the LSC. The team ranks top three in the conference in kills, assists, and hitting percentage. Quarterbacking that offense is, statistically, the best setter in the conference, graduate student Adeline Ortman, who averages 11.60 assists per set. She also ranks 11th in the LSC in aces per set. Graduate student Evelyn Torres sophomore Madi Parrish have been on the receiving end of many of those sets, as they each rank among the top five attackers in the conference in kills per set. Torres is ranked fifth and averages 3.64, Parrish ranks second and hits 3.69 kills/s.

Though the Javelinas' two-loss opening weekend of LSC play certainly didn't help their statistics, Kingsville has proven itself one of the conference's best teams on both sides of the ball. Defensively, TAMUK averages the third most blocks in the conference and the fourth fewest opponent service aces. Offensively, the team ranks in the top five in the LSC in assists, kills, and opponent digs. 

The team's blocks number should come as no surprise with All-American senior Ayanna Jackson leading the Javelinas' defense at the net. Jackson's 1.14 blocks per set are the second-most in the conference and are more than three LSC team's total averages. Additionally, Jackson's .415 hitting percentage not only leads the conference but also ranks 14th in the nation. 

Behind Jackson, sophomore Natalee Rush has provided a big defensive presence in her own right, averaging .91 blocks/s - ninth in the LSC. Fellow sophomore, libero Isabel Rodriguez's defense has been spectacular as of late. Her back-row play was top tier last weekend, averaging six digs per set across the two matches, highlighted by a 21-dig performance against Western New Mexico, the tenth most posted in a sweep by any player in the conference so far this season. She now averages 4.16 digs/s, the tenth most in the LSC. 

First serve for Friday's match is set for 6:00 p.m. CT, with the game being streamed on Flosports.