CORPUS CHRISTI – Trailing by a set and being down 15-11 in the second, the East Texas A&M University volleyball team stormed back to win in four sets over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Thursday afternoon at the Dugan Wellness Center via set scores of 16-25, 25-21, 25-18, and 25-21.
 
Thursday is the first ever win for the Lions over A&M-Corpus Christi, who had won the previous six matchups between the two teams, dropping just two sets in the series. The Islanders won the Southland Tournament Championship a year ago and had a crowd of 818 at hand on Thursday.
 
The Lions pick up their first SLC win of the season to improve to 3-11 on the season, having won three of their last five, and are 1-2 in SLC action. The Islanders are now 5-10 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
 
The Islanders took the first three points of the match and never trailed in the first set. The Lions took two of the next three points to get to within two, which was the smallest deficit in the entire set. A&M-Corpus Christi closed out the first set on a 4-1 run, winning it on a kill by Kaitlyn Baumann.
 
After the first two points went to the Lions, the Islanders came back to take an early 5-4 lead. Both teams exchanged scoring runs with the Lions leading 7-5 and the Islanders leading 15-11, but a 4-0 run helped the Lions tie the set at 15.
 
Both teams exchanged points as the set was tied at 20, but the Lions then went on a 6-1 scoring run to take the second, including a 3-0 run to close it out on an assisted block by Gracie Campbell (Klein Oak) and Giana Brown (San Antonio – Brennan).
 
As a team, the Lions hit .346 in the second set with four service aces.
 
With a back-and-forth set to start, the Lions separated themselves with back-to-back points to take a 10-8 lead, but the Islanders came back to tie the set at 11. Two points in a row gave the Lions a 14-12 lead and East Texas A&M did not trail again in the set.
 
The Islanders halted a 2-0 run by the Lions as East Texas A&M led 18-15, but then the Lions held A&M-Corpus Christi to just two more points as a 4-0 run gave the Lions its first set point chance at 24-17. Campbell sealed the third set with a kill from Campbell.
 
Looking to stay alive in the match, the Islanders won the first three points of the fourth set. The Lions won four of five to take a 9-8 lead. With a 13-12 lead, East Texas A&M went on a 4-1 run to further separate themselves and led 21-15 in the set.
 
A 6-2 run followed by A&M-Corpus Christi to pull to within 23-21, but the Lions clinched the match on back-to-back kills from Campbell.
 
After hitting .133 in the first set, the Lions hit .346, .545, and .517, in the remaining sets, respectively. The Lions had just three attacking errors in the final three sets, including none in the third. Campbell totaled 15 kills, while Peyton Roper (Converse – Judson) posted 13 kills.
 
Nevaeh Smith (San Antonio – O'Connor) had four blocks, while Brown had three. Haley Mullaney (Victory Christian Academy) had 42 kills and Jade Washington (Waco – Midway) had team-best 20 digs.  
 
UP NEXT
The Lions continue trip down south on Saturday at noon at UTRGV.