Box Score
Casey Postmatch Interview (video)
HOUSTON –Texas A&M-Corpus Christi rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth set, but Houston Baptist University held on for a 3-2 (25-22, 25-17, 20-25, 26-28, 15-10) victory in non-conference volleyball Thursday night at Sharp Gym.
HBU freshman outside hitter
Jasmine Casey had 23 kills, 20 digs, two blocks and two aces to lead the Huskies (15-5). Junior outside hitter
Heather Leaverton added 14 kills and 14 digs, while senior rightside hitter
Isis Gardner had 11 kills and nine blocks. Sophomore middle blocker
Caiti Wenger chipped in with 10 kills and five blocks, while senior middle blocker
Jolie Graf had seven kills and six blocks.
Junior setter
Victoria Weatherly had a career-high 58 assists to go with 12 digs for her team-leading ninth double-double. Senior libero
Courtney Whittleman had a season-high 33 digs and moved into second place on HBU's all-time digs list with 1,904. Freshman defensive specialist
Haley Hoffman added 11 digs, while freshman middle blocker
Kaiti Waters came off the bench toward the end of the fourth set and had four kills, three digs and a crucial kill.
Shannon Hullum had 11 kills and 13 digs for TAMU-CC (9-12), while Brianna Brink had nine kills. Tina Chavis had eight kills, while Jessica Korda and Isabella Arcidiacono each had seven. Logen Bourque had 41 assists and a team-leading 22 digs. Micah Nolan had 21 digs, while Shelby Coppedge added 13.
HBU hit .191 for the match, while holding TAMU-CC to .101. The Huskies outdug the Islanders, 99-94, and outblocked them, 15-6. However, HBU made 14 service errors and were outaced, 5-3.
TAMU-CC scored three-straight points to take a 4-1 lead in the decisive fifth set, but HBU clawed back and scored three-straight point to take an 8-7 lead. The Islanders answered back by scoring back-to-back points to reclaim the advantage, but the Huskies got a kill by Waters, TAMU-CC was called for a ball handling error, then made two attacking errors as HBU scored four-straight for a 12-9 lead. After TAMU-CC sided out, HBU put the match away with three straight points, two of them -- including the match-winner -- coming from Gardner.
The Huskies got off to a fast start behind Casey, who had eight kills in the first set. HBU scored five-straight points to take a 16-11 lead, but TAMU-CC rallied back to within one four times – the last time at 23-22, but Casey had back-to-back kills to end the set for a 25-22 decision.
After TAMU-CC scored the first two points of the second, HBU scored 10-straight points to take control. The Islanders rebounded to cut the lead to 15-12, but the Huskies came back with a six-point run to lead by nine and cruised to a 25-17 win.
In the third, HBU hit .000 with 12 kills and 12 errors to leave the door open for TAMU-CC. The Islanders took a 12-9 lead, and the Huskies were able to get back to within one at 18-17, but TAMU-CC scored three-straight for a 21-17 lead. HBU cut the Islanders' lead to two on an ace by Casey, but TAMU-CC scored four of the last five points for a 25-20 victory.
In the fourth, HBU led 20-16 and were looking to close out the match, but TAMU-CC stormed back with three in a row to cut the Huskies' lead to one. The Huskies regrouped to take a three-point lead and got to match-point with a 24-21 lead, but the Islanders scored three in a row to tie the set, 24-24. TAMU-CC took a 26-25 edge, but Gardner tied the set with a kill, however, the Islanders took the last two points to tie the match at two sets apiece.
The Huskies return to Great West Conference play as they travel to face Texas-Pan American Saturday at 2 p.m. in Edinburg, Texas.
