Kingsville - After a three-set sweep of the University of Bridgeport, the Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team will enter its first matches of the year against Lone Star Conference opponents with the best record through eight matches since the fall of 2021.
The team's historic, 7-1, start was fueled by a perfect, 4-0, weekend at the Third Annual Javelina Volleyball Classic, which it closed out with another excellent offensive showing against the Purple Knights.
"It feels good, it's always good to win at home and it's a great start to the season," senior setter
Elisa Carli, who dished out a match-high 22 assists, said. "I think there's still things that we can improve on, it's good to have these before-conference games and tournaments to see where the team is at, and I think we have a really good team and a lot of depth, so it's exciting going into conference."
As has become a trend early in the season, the Javelinas posted another ridiculous set of offensive statistics, with the team tallying a .365 total attack percentage and averaging more than 16 kills per set. It was Barnett's turn to lead the way against UB, notching a match-high 11 kills on just 16 swings. The senior rightside duo of
Rylan Pollard and
Kendall Harrington weren't far behind, with Pollard collecting 10 kills and Harrington nine. Pollard also added 16 assists, three digs, an an ace.
"Part of it is the offensive system, we have to be able to set all six hitters, we need all six hitters to participate," Head Coach
Tanya Allen-Gonzalez said. "That's kind of what makes our offense so difficult to defend. If it's right-side hitter heavy, for example, they're just going to move the block there, they're going to move the defense there. So, us being able to score in all six positions is really what makes us so tough to defend."
TAMUK's defense, particularly in the back row, was impressive as well. With sophomore
Tayae-Renae Garcia, who started the team's first six matches at libero, out for the second straight match, junior
Monique Gonzalez again stepped into the role, posting another stellar performance. She tied her career high in digs with 14, while also adding five assists. Behind her in the DS rotation, freshman
Kendra Denoon added another strong match to her resume, putting up eight digs, an ace, and an assist.
While the Javelinas took set one with ease, 25-9, behind a torrid serving streak from sophomore middle blocker
Karrington Crawford (four Ks, two aces, two digs, two TB), the second and third frames saw the Purple Knights fight tooth and nail to take a set from the home team. UB came back from down as many as seven points in the second set, pulling within one before an empathic kill from Crawford and a setter dump from Carli gave TAMUK a 2-0 advantage. In the third, it was the Javelinas' turn to play from behind, making up a five-point deficit to force extra points, taking down UB 27-25 to complete the sweep.
The team will stay in Kingsville for a pair of 'LSC Challenge' matches in the SPEC next weekend against TAMIU (Thursday, 6 p.m.) and Midwestern State (Saturday, 1 p.m.).
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