Gunnison, Colorado - Ayanna Jackson moved into fourth place on the all-time total career blocks list in program history as the Javelinas would finish off day one of the Mountaineer Volleyball Classic 2-0 on Friday.
Jackson secured the record in set three of the opening match against the Academy of Art, when the Urban Knight's Zoe Arnorld would be rejected by both Jackson and
Kerigan Baumgartner. The Senior from San Antonio passed
Kailey Estrada for the No. 4 spot with 396 total blocks.
Texas A&M-Kingsville (5-2, 0-0 Lone Star Conference) would not let Jackson's performance go to waste, going a perfect 6-0 in day one of the tournament. A much needed bounce back after falling to Adams State earlier in the week.
Match one against the Academy of Art was all Javelinas from the jump, with Texas A&M-Kingsville scoring the first five points of set one. The Urban Knights would not go away easily however, as they brought it within one point multiple times, but they would never capture the lead. Two quick 3-point runs led by Megan Stiefer would give the Javelinas set one of the match.
Set two would not nearly be as close, the Javelinas jumped out to an early lead, and this time would not let Academy of Art get close. A late gasp by the Urban Knights made it interesting, but the Javelinas slammed the door on the comeback attempt with an 8-4 run to close set two.
In the final set, it was the Urban Knights who came out of the gates hot, getting out to a 5-2 lead early. The Javelinas would turn out the pressure however, going on a 7-0 run thanks to the defense of Jackson and Baumgartner. Another 5-0 by the Javelinas would seal the fates of the Urban Knights, giving Texas A&M-Kingsville its first win of the tournament.
Jackson and Stiefer both had nine kills to lead the Javelinas,
Kendall Harrington would add six kills as well. Both
Elisa Carli and
Nadia Pena would score double digit assists with 16 and 19 assists.
In match two, the Javelinas would find themselves in a back-and-forth contest against Fort Lewis. Neither team could find ground early on, but the efficiency of the Javelinas would begin to show. Stiefer would put up a massive seven kill set one on just eight hits, and the Javelinas would eventually pull away from the Skyhawks.
Moving to set two, the Javelinas would simply dominate the Skyhawks. An early 6-0 lead set the tone for the rest of the set, where the Javelinas would punish every mistake Fort Lewis made. As a team, the Javelinas would score 10 kills on just 19 attacks in the set, while the Skyhawks would commit 11 attack errors.
Set three would be the closest contest Texas A&M-Kingsville faced all day. The Skyhawks battled with the Javelinas all set as the teams would find themselves in a 20-20 tie late in the set. Texas A&M-Kingsville would bring it to match point with a kill from Stiefer, but the Skyhawks rallied to bring it back to a 24-24 tie. The Javelians would not be denied however, as kills from Pena and Stiefer would seal the win for the Javelinas.
Stiefer would finish with the second most kills in a match for her career with 15, Jackson would add eight kills and Harrington would finish with seven.
Rylan Pollard would turn in six total blocks and Pena would go off for 20 assists and 10 digs.
The Javelinas return for day two of the Mountaineer Volleyball Classic, facing Washburn at 4 p.m. CT and Western Colorado at 7 p.m. CT. Live Stats can be followed
here with the matches being streamed to the
RMAC network.
