Kingsville - Winners of two of its last three matches, the Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team is back in the SPEC for three straight matches, all of which hold significant weight in the Lone Star Conference standings as the postseason peeks over the horizon, starting with a 6:00 p.m. Javelina Halloween contest against Texas A&M-International on Friday.

With five matches remaining on the Javelinas' schedule before the end of the regular season, they sit in the eighth spot in the LSC (top eight make the conference tournament), though a logjam continues to keep the middle of the standings very close. Just two games separate the four and the 10 seeds, with key tiebreakers such as head-to-head matchup results, and overall record, likely to prove significant down the stretch of the season.

In the 12 in-conference matches (46 sets) that TAMUK has played this year, it ranks second in the LSC in both fewest opponent service aces and fewest opponent digs. Each stat epitomizes a crucial part of what has led to the Hogs' success this year - prowess both offensively and in serve-receive.

TAMUK dominates the all-time head-to-head matchup, 24-12, including a 12-6 record in Kingsville. The Dustdevils, however, have won three of the last five matchups between the two teams, 

Scouting the Competition: The Texas A&M-International Dustdevils

TAMIU comes into the competition 4-17 overall with a 2-10 record in LSC play. Though the Dustdevils come in after a loss, they're not far removed from a five-set, hard-fought win over Midwestern State last Saturday. 
In her second year with TAMIU, Head Coach Tammie Jimenez is balancing a mix of veteran leadership and young talent that continues to mesh together. Before coming to Laredo, she built an NJCAA contender at Midland College, taking them to the NJCAA Region 5 West Championship and an appearance in the NJCAA Division I Volleyball Championship. 
If there is one area where the team excels, it's from the service line. The Dustdevils have accumulated 72 service aces for an average of 1.51 per set. Senior DS/L Samantha Estrada from San Antonio leads the way for the Dustdevils with 29 service aces on the season. Estrada's aggressive serving accounts for over 40 percent of the team's total aces.
The hometown sophomore outside hitter, Aryana Ledet  has 115 kills on the year, averaging 2.05 per set. When paired with fellow Laredo native and junior outside hitter Mia Molina, they form a great duo that gives TAMIU a legitimate one-two punch on the outside. Molina has been the team's offensive leader with 193 kills on the year averaging 2.97 per set. 

Javelina Quick Hitters:

• Earlier this season, the Javelinas reached the best start, record wise, in the history of the program. Since 1988, no TAMUK volleyball team had ever before held a 12-3 record through 15 matches
• Kingsville started Conference play with four straight wins, including a sweep of the Texas Woman's Pioneers in Denton, and a 3-2 upset of No.10 West Texas A&M in Kingsville - the first top-10 win for TAMUK since 2019. Since then the Hogs have lost four of five and hold a 5-4 conference record, sitting in eighth place in the LSC standings
• Kingsville's high-powered offense is, statistically, one of the most potent offenses in the conference - it averages the third-highest team hitting percentage, the fourth-most kills, and the fifth-most assists
• The squad's defense has made great strides as the season has gone on as well, as it now averages the fewest opponent assists, and the fewest opponent kills, and second fewest opponent digs in the LSC
• Senior RS/S Rylan Pollard has stuffed the stat sheet in every possible way early in the year, bringing averages of 3.01 kills/s (15th in LSC), 4.86 assists/s, and 2.35 digs/s , as well as a .255 hitting percentage (19th in LSC) into the weekend. She has already posted seven triple doubles this season, by far the most in the nation, including a 17k-28a-12d match with two service aces and three total blocks, as well as a match with 11k-27a-25d, and two aces.
• Pollard has won the LSC's weekly honor as both a Setter and an overall offensive player, becoming just the second player in the history of the conference to accomplish such a feat
• Junior MB Natalee Rush has been absolutely stellar in her third season with the Hogs, stepping into a large offensive roll and averaging a .465 attack percentage, the best in the conference and the second-best in the country
• Senior RS Kendall Harrington has been the epitome of efficiency early in the year, averaging 2.70 kills/s (22nd in LSC) while averaging a ridiculous .315 attack percentage (7th in LSC). She has already twice dropped single-match career highs in kills, with 16 in a five-set win over Harding and 18 in a five-set win over Southern Arkansas
• Harrington won her first ever LSC weekly honors earlier this season, bringing home the Offensive Player of the Week award for a weekend where she averaged 3.47 kills/s while swinging at .400, adding in eight digs and four total blocks
• Senior setter Elisa Carli, who led the LSC in service aces last season, is off to a hot start behind the service line again this year, her 29 total aces are tied for the fourth most in the LSC - her 5.36 assists/s are also the 12th-most in the conference
• Defensively, junior DS/L Monique Gonzalez leads the team with 3.24 digs per set (16th in LSC), with sophomore DS/L Tayae Garcia not far behind, averaging 2.66 d/s