Edmond, OK. - Texas A&M-Kingsville was not able to close out Oklahoma Christian as it fell in five sets Friday at the Payne Athletic Center.
The Javelinas (10-8, 2-5 Lone Star Conference) had a chance to put the match away in set four and five, but the Eagles (12-7, 3-4 LSC) rallied back and eventually took the match in a full five set competition.
Ayanna Jackson led the Javelinas with 16 kills,
Meghan Stiefer added 11 kills and
Rylan Pollard finished with 10 kills as well.
Elisa Carli finished with 30 assists for the game and
Isabel Rodriguez led the team with 15 digs.Â
The first set was not how the Javelinas wanted to begin the match, allowing the Eagles offense to get rolling and finding themselves down by seven midway through the set. Jackson would make it interesting down the stretch, but Oklahoma Christian eventually closed the set out to go up 1-0.
Set two would fare much better for Texas A&M-Kingsville. A service ace by Carli would kick off a 7-2 run in favor of the Javelinas to give them control of the set. The Eagles would rally late in the set, but five straight Javelina points would even up the match.
The third set was the closest set of the match, with each team going on mini-runs and never gaining much ground on each other. It was the Javelinas who eventually took control, going on another 7-2 run that propelled them to take their first set lead of the match.
With the chance to close the match out, the Javelinas kicked set four off in excellent fashion getting an early two point lead. Oklahoma began to rally however, and that lead for the Javelinas soon became a five-point deficit that Texas A&M-Kingsville could never recover from. The Eagles would carry this momentum through set four and into set five, taking the match out of the Javelina's hands.
Texas A&M-Kingsville takes on Cameron University as the final opponent of their four-game conference road trip Saturday at 2:00 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on Flosports.
