CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – HBU used its balance, with five players with double-digit kills and five with double-digit digs to slip past Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 3-2 (22-25, 25-10, 23-25, 25-21, 15-13), in Southland Conference volleyball Thursday night at Dugan Wellness Center.
Sophomore right side
Ashtyn Richey led the Huskies (10-11, 3-4 SLC) with 15 kills, while freshman outside hitter
Catherine Drapela had a career-high 14. Sophomore middle blocker
Megan Patillo added 12 kills, six digs and five blocks, while sophomore outside hitter
Mikayla Vivens double-doubled again with 12 kills and 18 digs. Senior middle blocker
Kayla Davenport had 11 kills and six blocks, with senior setter
Madison O'Brien pacing the offense with 48 assists, 17 digs and three kills. Junior libero
Hannah Lewis led HBU defensively with 20 digs, freshman defensive specialist
Cici Collins had 13 and junior defensive specialist
Camie Copeland had 10.
Sam Dumity had 13 kills, Rachel Young had 12 and Julia Carter 11 for the Islanders (4-16, 3-4). Chloe Simon added nine kills and 17 digs, while Madison Green totaled 47 assists and eight digs. Kaylee Payne came up with 24 digs and Jenna Krenek had 11.
Playing its third-straight five-set match, HBU hit .262 for the match, while holding TAMU-CC to .139. The Huskies outdug the Islanders, 88-73, and outblocked them 11-6.
With the fifth set tied, 4-4, Vivens and Richey had kills during a three-point spurt to give the Huskies the lead. The Islanders fought back to tie the set, 12-12, but Vivens regained the lead for HBU with a kill. After a block by TAMU-CC tied it at 13-13, the Islanders committed an attack error and Vivens put it away with a kill for the 15-13 victory.
After TAMU-CC scored the first point in the first, HBU could never get over the hump, tying the set nine times without ever taking the lead. TAMU-CC had its biggest lead of the frame at 15-11, but HBU scored five of the next six points to tie it, 16-16. The last tie was at 20-20, when the Islanders scored three-straight to take control and go on to a 25-22 decision.
The Huskies steamrolled the Islanders in the second set, bouncing back from a 6-3 deficit to score nine-straight points, five of them on kills by Drapela, to lead by six. HBU then answered TAMU-CC's side out with four point in a row, then the next side out by ripping off six-straight points to extend the lead to 22-8. The Huskies knotted the match at a set apiece with a 25-10 rout, hitting .515 on 18 kills with only one error.
The Islanders rebounded in the third, jumping out to a 7-3 lead. After trailing the entire set, the Huskies tied the frame at 16-16. With the score still knotted at 18-18, a kill by Richey and a block by Patillo and O'Brien gave HBU its first lead. The Huskies still led at 22-21, but the Islanders scored twice, before HBU sided out to tie it again at 23-23. TAMU-CC scored the final two points of the set to take a 2-1 set lead.
After TAMU-CC started off the fourth with an ace, HBU scored the next five points, including back-to-back kills by Vivens. The Huskies led 6-2, but the Islanders used a six-point run to take a two-point lead. TAMU-CC continued to lead at 15-10, but HBU scored six of the next seven to tie it at 16-16. With the set tied 18-18, three kills by Richey and two each by Drapela and Patillo clinched a 25-21 victory and sent the match to the decisive fifth set.
The Huskies return to action when they wrap up the three-match road stretch against Sam Houston State Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Huntsville.
