San Angelo - The Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team's win streak ended at four matches after a four-set loss to the Angelo State Rambelles in San Angelo that saw senior setter
Elisa Carli move into the sixth spot on the all-time Javelina career assists list.
Despite the loss, the Javelinas fought until the finish, with the final three sets being decided by an average of just 2.6 points. Kingsville now has just one match remaining in its regular season, with the team still able to finish as high as the fourth seed in the Lone Star Conference Tournament and as low as the eighth seed.Â
Carli posted 18 assists in the match, and now has 2,221 on her career, just enough to pass Kirby Krueger and move up another spot in the TAMUK recordbook. She also added 11 digs for the fourth double-double of her season. Earlier this season, the senior climbed through the program's career aces list, and currently sits in third all-time.
After a dominant first-set win by the Belles, Kingsville responded in a big way. Though they were down by as many as six in the second set, the Javelinas mounted a furious comeback, forcing extra points to even the set count at 1-1. That fight continued in the third and fourth sets, with TAMUK coming very close to completing another comeback in the third that would have given the team a 2-1 lead. Instead it came up just short, losing by a combined six points across the last two sets.
Three different Javelinas posted double figure kills, led by senior rightside hitter
Kendall Harrington, whose 12 kills came on just 27 swings. Senior rightside hitter/setter
Rylan Pollard once again left her fingerprints all over the match, putting up the 10th triple double of her season (leads the nation), with 11 kills, 19 assists, 13 digs, and a block assist. Junior outside hitter
Rylie Barnett added 11 kills of her own, as the trio of her, Pollard, and Harrington remained crucial to Kingsville's comeback attempts - both those that the team completed and those it did not - coming up with countless big plays in crunch time. Sophomore
Tayae-Renae Garcia, who finished the match in the libero jersey for TAMUk, led the team with 17 digs, and added six assists.
Kingsville will now travel to Odessa for its regular season finale, in which it will attempt to spoil the UT-Permian Basin Falcons' Senior Day in a match with first serve set for 1:00 p.m..
