Silver City, NM – Though the Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team fell in five hard-fought sets to the Mustangs at Western New Mexico, it still walked away with the best 15-match start to a season in program history.
The loss puts the Javelinas at 4-1 in the Lone Star Conference and 12-3 overall, the best record any team has ever posted through 15 matches in the history of the program, which has existed since 1988 (the Spring 2021 team played a shortened, 14-match season and went 13-1).
The match was a dogfight from start to finish, as the Javelinas' top-of-the-conference offense battled with the Mustangs block, which remains among the best in the nation. The home team took the first set before TAMUK settled in, winning both the second and third sets 25-21, posting 37 total kills across the two sets. Though Kingsville led for much of the fourth set, including as late as 21-20, a 5-1 run from WNM to close the set forced a tiebreaking fifth.
Despite the Mustangs taking both homecourt advantage and momentum into the fifth, the Javelinas once again put their poise and grit on display, clawing back from a deficit as large as five points to pull within one late in the fifth before ultimately falling 15-13.
Four different Javelinas handed out 12 or more kills, led by junior middle blocker
Natalee Rush's 14 on a .440 attack percentage, adding three blocks and three digs as well. Senior rightside hitter/setter
Rylan Pollard added to her nation-leading number in the triple-doubles department, posting the sixth of her season with 12 kills, 30 assists, and 10 digs. Sophomore Tayae Garcia finished the game at the libero spot, tying her career high with 22 digs to go along with four assists.
Kingsville now moves down to third in the Lone Star standings, and is one of seven teams with one or fewer losses in conference play. The loss snapped what had been a four-match win streak to start LSC competition, including a 3-2 win over No.10 West Texas A&M last weekend.
Your Javelinas will be back at home this weekend for a pair of matches in the SPEC, including a 6:00 p.m. Country Night match on Friday night against St. Edward's.
