Kingsville - Texas A&M-Kingsville lost in a hard-fought match against West Texas A&M Saturday at the Steinke Physical Education Center.
The Javelinas (13-12, 5-9 Lone Star Conference) were the first team in a month to take a set off of the Lady Buffs (21-3, 14-0 LSC) and played West Texas about as good as any team has this season in conference play. It was not good enough however, as West Texas took out the Javelinas in four sets.
Rylan Pollard and Ayanna Jacskon led the Javelinas in kills with 12 kills each.
Nadia Pena had a team-high 25 assists, leading the way in digs was both
Isabel Rodriguez and
Meghan Stiefer with nine digs each.
The match started in disastrous fashion for the Javelinas, with West Texas going up as much as 13 points in the first set. Just as it seemed the Lady Buffs would get a quick victory, the Javelinas started inching their way back. That slow crawl would soon erupt into a 11-1 run led by five straight kills from Pollard to bring the Javelinas within four points. It would not be enough however as West Texas scored the last two points to take set one.
Set two followed many of the trends in set one, with West Texas getting an early lead in the set. The difference this time however, was when the Javelinas made their comeback, they seized control of the set. Led by
Rylie Barnett, Texas A&M-Kingsville would blitz the West Texas A&M defense and take set two.
In the third set, both teams would go back-and-forth with each other with neither team getting more than a two point lead over each other. West Texas Would eventually pull away late however and take the third set from the Javelinas. Set four was much the same as well, with West Texas getting key kills when they needed them and putting the Javelinas away in four.
Texas A&M-Kingsville finishes the regular season at home next week, with the first of two matchups coming on Wednesday against St. Edwards University. Fans of the Javelinas can watch on Flosports or follow the game at JavelinaVB on Twitter.
