HOUSTON – Four HBU players reached double figure kills to pull out a 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22) victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Southland Conference volleyball Tuesday night at Sharp Gym and move into fifth place all alone in the league standings.
Sophomore outside hitter
Mikayla Vivens racked up her league-leading 21
st double-double with 18 kills and 16 digs, while redshirt freshman outside hitter
Kelly Colwell hit .433 with 15 kills for the Huskies (15-14, 8-7 SLC). Sophomore middle blocker
Megan Patillo registered 13 kills, sophomore right side
Ashtyn Richey had 10 and senior middle blocker
Kayla Davenport added eeight kills and five blocks. Senior setter
Madison O'Brien dished out 53 assists and had nine digs. Defensively, junior libero
Hannah Lewis led HBU with 18 digs to go along with six assists and three aces and freshman defensive specialist
Cici Collins came up with 10 digs.
Chloe Simon recorded a double-double for the Islanders (8-20, 7-8) with 15 kills and 10 digs, while Rachel Young had 10 kills. Madison Green had 34 assists and had nine kills and Julia Carter had seven kills and five blocks. Sam Dumity also have five blocks, Jenna Krenek posted a match-high 20 digs and Kaylee Payne had 15 digs.
The Huskies hit .263 for the match, with the Islanders hitting .210. HBU outdug TAMU-CC, 65-61, and outaced them, 8-5. The Islanders held an 8-6 advantage in blocks.
HBU led 18-12 in the first, but TAMU-CC scored five of the next six to close within two. Kills by Richey and Vivens restored the Huskies' lead to four. An ace by Lewis got the Huskies to set point and Colwell put it away with a kill for a 25-20 win.
The Huskies jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the second after a solo block by Davenport. The Islanders chipped away and cut the lead to two at 16-14, before tying the set at 19. After HBU sided out, TAMU-CC scored five-straight point, including back-to-back aces by Payne to reach set point. Payne put her next serve into the net, but an HBU ball handling error gave TAMU-CC a 25-21 decision to knot the match at a set apiece.
An Islanders service error put the Huskies ahead 8-4 in the third and HBU was able to keep TAMU-CC at arm's length the rest of the frame. TAMU-CC closed within one at 12-11, but would not get any closer. The Islanders were able to get within two at 19-17, but back-to-back kills by Vivens extended the Huskies' lead to four. Leading 23-20, HBU got a kill from Richey and Vivens finished it off by ripping an ace just inside the endline for the 25-20 victory.
HBU led 5-4 early in the fourth, the ripped off five-straight points on two kills each by Vivens and Patillo and an attacking error by TAMU-CC. Davenport had back-to-back kills and teamed up with Vivens for a block that pushed the Huskies' advantage to 15-7. The Islanders answered by scoring the next four, but the Huskies came out of timeout and sided out on a kill by Vivens. Richey got HBU to set point at 24-20, but a ball handling error by Carter and Dumity kept TAMU-CC alive. Patillo dashed the Islanders' hopes for a comeback with a kill to clinch the match, 25-22.
The Huskies wrap up the regular season against Incarnate Word Thursday at 7 p.m. in San Antonio and will be idle when the rest of the league finishes up Saturday. The top eight teams in the standings advance to the Southland Conference Tournament, which will take place Nov. 16-18 in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
