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2016 Southland Volleyball Tournament Central
CONWAY, Ark. – Although No. 8 McNeese did not make it easy for them, the No. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders came out on top in their opening round match-up with the Cowgirls, winning 3-1. The Islanders had to overcome a sluggish offensive performance in the third set loss and did so with an exceptional performance from Player of the Year Brittany Gilpin and fellow First Team All-Conference Selection Morgan Carlson.
The Cowgirls looked to gain momentum as quickly as possible in the first set, building a 7-4 lead before Islanders head coach Steve Greene called an early timeout. It didn’t take for long for A&M-Corpus Christi to start looking like their usual selves, pushing forward to a 16-14 lead and a McNeese timeout. The Cowgirls would remain within striking distance, but the Islanders would edge for a 25-19 win in set one.
McNeese held the advantage on kills in the first set (14-12) led by six from senior right side hitter Rebecca Korenek, but were hitting .175 compared to A&M-Corpus Christi’s .229. The Cowgirls were stifled by four service errors while the Islanders committed none.
The Islanders started hot in set two, jumping out to a 5-0 lead, forcing another timeout from McNeese head coach
Ashleigh Fitzgerald. The gap grew larger, with A&M-Corpus Christi gradually pushing their lead to 18-8 before McNeese would take another timeout. The Cowgirls could not produce an answer and would drop the second set 25-13.
The Islanders hit at a blistering .469 in the second set with 28 kills compared to McNeese’s .069 hitting percentage. The Cowgirls were also held down by an A&M-Corpus Christi defense that notched six total team blocks (10 block assists, one solo). Libero of the Year Kate Klepetka doled out 17 assists for the Islanders while sophomore Alexandra Aguilera notched 18 for McNeese.
The third set saw seven ties and three lead changes as McNeese threw everything they could at the Islanders. Greene called a timeout with the Islanders facing a 19-17 deficit and as the set wore on, it was McNeese that inched ahead and did something that many Southland teams did not manage to accomplish this season: Win a set against the Islanders. The Cowgirls forced a fourth set with a 25-20 victory.
The statistics were near opposites in the third set, with the Islanders hitting only .082 – among their lowest marks of the season. The Cowgirls hit .195 and got it done on the defensive end as well, registering 24 digs and two total team blocks.
McNeese would not go away in the fourth set, even after the Islanders jumped out to another early 5-0 lead. The Cowgirls game back and scored seven of the next eight point to take a 7-6 lead. The momentum shifted hard back to A&M-Corpus Christi as they built a 17-11 lead by the time Fitzgerald called her second timeout of the set. The Cowgirls would again pull barely within striking distance but the Islanders forced ahead and took a 25-17 win in the fourth set to win their opening round match 3-1.
This was only the eighth time this season that a Southland opponent managed to take a set away from a match with the Islanders. Although the offense struggled in the third set, A&M-Corpus Christi still posted a .231 hitting percentage through the match and held McNeese to .119. At the net, the Islanders also notched 13 total team blocks (22 block assists, two solo) while Klepetka tallied 30 digs.
For the Cowgirls, Korenek led with 13 kills (.237 hitting percentage) while Aguilera dished out 31 assists.
The Islanders will take on the winner of No. 4 Houston Baptist and No. 5 Central Arkansas tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. in the semifinals on the
Southland Digital Network.