Kingsville - The Kingsville volleyball team's final homestand of the season - lasting all four of its final regular season matches - begins this weekend with a pair of home matches against Eastern New Mexico and West Texas A&M.

TAMUK is coming off of a split of its season's final road matches against Texas Woman's and Midwestern St. last weekend. The team fell in Denton to TWU in four matches before beating MSU in four the following day. Entering their second-to-last weekend of the year, the Javelinas sit at 12-11 with a 4-8 record in conference play.

Kingsville is led by senior middle blocker Ayanna Jackson, whose final season in a Javelina uniform has been a stellar one. Jackson ranks sixth in the nation with a .414 hitting percentage. Perhaps even more incredible is her volume - she has more kills than four of the hitters that rank above her. 

Defensively, her 1.14 blocks per set are the second most in the LSC. Her 98 total blocks on the year have lifted her near the top of the all-time programs blocks list. She currently sits in fourth place, just 17 total blocks away from tying the all-time record. Total blocks, however, is not the only category that Jackson stands to make history in. As it stands, her career hitting percentage of .333 is the second best by any Javelina in program history with at least 1,000 total attacks.

Fueled by one of Jackson's strengths, TAMUK has excelled at the net defensively. The team averages 2.26 blocks per set, the third-most in the conference. 

"I think our blocking has improved tremendously over the course of the season," Head Coach Tanya Allen Gonzalez said. "It's gotten a lot better, it's more aggressive."

Kingsville's first opponent of the weekend, Eastern New Mexico with first serve at 2 p.m. on Friday, features a team whose strength matches up well with the Javelinas. The Greyhounds rank fifth in the conference in fewest opponent blocks allowed, with 1.63 per set.

"We have to focus on keeping their hitting percentage low and taking advantage of some of their weaker defensive spots and just keep our hitting percentage high," Allen Gonzalez said.

Less than 24 hours after that match, the No.6 team in the nation, West Texas A&M, awaits. WT leads the LSC in opponent blocks/s, hitting percentage, blocks/s, and service aces/s. 

The team also features a number of excellent players, led by junior MB Taytum Stow, the only player in the Lone Star to average more blocks/s than Jackson. She also ranks sixth in the conference with a .351 hitting percentage. Stow's teammate, senior MB Angelina Oliver, is one of the five players in the LSC to hit a better percentage this year - she holds a .371.

After this weekend, TAMUK will have just two matches left to improve its LSC standings - home showdowns with St. Edwards and Sul Ross St. next Wednesday and Saturday respectively.