Kingsville - With a spot in the Lone Star Conference Tournament locked up, the Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team hits the road for its final weekend of the season, and will play matches against Angelo St. (Friday, 6:00 p.m.), and UT-Permian Basin (Saturday, 1:00 p.m.).

Though just two matches remain for the Javelinas, they can still finish as high as the fourth seed and as low as the eighth seed in the LSC Tournament, with both their wins/losses and the results from other teams' matches factoring into the team's final standings.

The Hogs were also picked 10th in the NCAA's most recent NCAA D2 Volleyball Regional Rankings, placing even more weight on the final matches of TAMUK's season, as it will hope to extend its postseason by securing a spot in the NCAA D2 National Tournament (eight from each region compete). The team will begin its weekend by putting its four-match winning streak on the line against ASU, who is currently tied at 13-2 with the second best record in the LSC, and still has a shot at the Regular Season Conference Title.

The Belles have dominated the all-time history between the two programs, holding a 48-16 edge. ASU is 27-5 in San Angelo against the Javelinas, though TAMUK has won three of the teams' last four meetings, including one of the two such matches on the road.

Though the Javelinas and Falcons have faced off just 13 times, TAMUK holds a 10-3 edge on UTPB, and is 4-2 all time in Odessa.

Scouting the Competition: The Angelo State Rambelles | 19-7 (13-2)

Entering the final weekend of the regular season, Angelo remains in a quest for the LSC Regular Season Title, and carries a six-match winning streak into Friday's contest, and has lost just three total sets across that streak. Two of ASU's last three wins have come over the conference's other top teams, West Texas A&M and Lubbock Christian. 

Much like their opponents, the Belles possess an incredibly potent offense, which ranks second in the LSC in kills per set (36th in the nation), assists per set (24th in the nation), and hitting percentage (30th in the nation). 

Outside hitter Madi Parrish has posted an incredible junior year, and is coming off of one of the best weekends of her season. She averaged 5.5 kills per set on a .448 attack percentage in the team's two road wins. She averages the second-most k/s (3.57) on the 19th-best hitting percentage (.261) in the LSC. She is one of five different Belles who hold a top-30 hitting percentage in the conference this year.

Scouting the Competition: The University of Texas - Permian Basin | 9-16 (7-8)

A dangerous team, particularly to play against on the road late in the season, the Falcons have had an up-and-down season, which has most recently seen the team lose three of its last four matches. Saturday's match against TAMUK, however, will be UTPB's senior day, as the team holds an opportunity to affect Kingsville's Tournament seeding significantly.

Sophomore Kierra Freeman runs the offense, averaging 7.83 assists per set, the fifth-most in the conference. On the other end of a number of her sets this year has been another talented young piece for the Falcons, sophomore OH Ashlee Macias, who leads the team with an astounding 4.19 kills/s. 

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. The middle of the LSC schedule saw the Hogs drop four of their next five matches before finding their stride once again, having now won four in a row and five of their last six.
• The team now holds a 10-5 conference record and sits in fifth place in the LSC standings
• Though TAMUK has clinched a spot in the LSC Tournament, and is set to return to the postseason for the first time since 2023, when it made the Tournament Championship game, there are still plenty of possibilities left for the Javelinas, who could finish as high as the fourth seed and as low as the eighth seed
• The team made its season debut in the NCAA Division II Regional Rankings on Tuesday, slotting in at the tenth spot in the South Central Region, though the Hogs still have work to do (eight teams from each Region compete in the NCAA D2 National Tournament), it is a promising sign for Kingsville's hopes of extending its postseason
• Kingsville's high-powered offense is, statistically, one of the most potent offenses in the conference - it averages the third-most kills per set (44th in the nation), and the third-highest attack percentage, and the fourth-most assists per set (37th in the nation) in the LSC
• The squad's defense has made great strides as the season has gone on as well, as it now leads the conference in fewest opponent kills/s and ranks second in fewest opponent assists/s
• 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), 4.89 assists/s, and 2.36 digs/s , as well as a .254 hitting percentage (20th in LSC) into the weekend. She has already posted nine 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 - her most recent one came in just three sets, in a sweep of the University of Texas at Tyler last weekend.
• 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
• She added her second SOTW award this past week, becoming the fourth Javelina ever to win the award twice in the same season and the first since the Spring of 2021
• Junior MB Natalee Rush has been absolutely stellar in her third season with the Hogs, stepping into a large offensive roll and averaging a .454 attack percentage, the best in the conference and the third-best in the country
• Senior RS Kendall Harrington has been the epitome of efficiency early in the year, averaging 2.73 kills/s (23rd in LSC) while averaging a ridiculous .301 attack percentage (8th 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, has been stellar behind the service line again this year, her 38 total aces are the fourth-most in the LSC - her 5.46 assists/s are also the 11th-most in the conference
• Defensively, junior DS/L Monique Gonzalez leads the team with 3.48 digs per set (16th in LSC), with senior OH Kerigan Baumgartner and sophomore DS/L Tayae Garcia not far behind, averaging 2.76 d/s and 2.55 d/s respectively