Kingsville - Fresh off its hottest start in four years, the Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball team will host its first Lone Star Conference opponents of the year at the LSC Challenge this weekend, which will feature matches against Texas A&M-International (Thursday, 6 p.m.) and Midwestern State (Saturday, 1 p.m).

The Javelinas are 7-1, their best record through eight matches since the fall of 2021, and are riding a four-match win streak after completing their home-opening weekend run at the Third Annual Javelina Volleyball Classic a perfect 4-0.

"I'm proud of the girls for their effort and production thus far this season, but I also know that the level of play of our opponents will just keep going up," Head Coach Tanya Allen Gonzalez said. "There's an element of the unknown in preseason tournaments but now teams are well prepped and have scouted us in depth. It will be harder to do the things we are good at and we will be tested in a different way."

This weekend's matches will be the first opportunity to see familiar foes in the Dustdevils and the Mustangs, as the LSC Challenge puts teams into groups of three based on where they finished in the conference standings last year. It will give the Javelinas an opportunity to text their high-powered offense (13.66 team kills/s, .260 team attack %) against opponents in one of the most difficult volleyball conferences in all of Division II.

The team's two senior RS's, Rylan Pollard and Kendall Harrington, have been fantastic to start the year, each earning LSC weekly honors for their stellar play during last weekend's tournament. Pollard earned the second LSC Setter of the Week award of her career while Harrington earned the first LSC Offensive Player of the Week of hers.

Their first opponent of the weekend, TAMIU, has started the year 2-5, and carries a four-match losing streak into the weekend. The Dustdevils have faced off against difficult competition, including top-10-ranked Central Oklahoma. Midwestern has had a much stronger start to the year, winning four of its first six matches including three straight wins to open the year.

"For these two challenge matches, I want to see my team maintain our solid numbers in serve receive, because that is how we keep our offensive numbers high," Allen Gonzalez said. "But I also want to see them step up more defensively and raise those numbers."