CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A&M-Corpus Christi had won 21 consecutive meetings against Lamar University before the Cardinals reversed the trend Thursday night with a four-set victory, 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-23, at Dugan Wellness Center.
The victory marked Lamar's first over the Islanders since Oct. 8, 2011, when the Cardinals also won in four sets. It was also Lamar's first win in Corpus Christi since Oct. 10, 2009.
"Winning is tough. Winning on the road is a little bit more challenging," said head coach
Ariel Apolinario. "This is a team that's won championships before. In order for us to do that, we have to beat these types of teams, and doing that on the road is a step in the right direction."
The opening set featured 14 ties.
A&M-Corpus Christi built a four-point lead at 10-6 before the Cardinals responded with five unanswered points to take a 12-11 advantage.
Nisaan Martinez recorded two kills during the run while
Alexa Gonzalez added a service ace and
Saida Maksoud contributed a solo block.
The score was tied five more times before a service ace from
Madelynn Coy gave Lamar a two-point advantage.
After three more ties, the Islanders scored three unanswered points to take a two-point lead.
Lamar battled back to even the score at 22-22, but A&M-Corpus Christi closed the set on a 3-1 run to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Cardinals opened the second set with a 5-0 run to take a 7-4 lead, highlighted by a kill and service ace from
Maja Malinowska.
The Islanders answered with four straight points to pull within one.
After four ties, Lamar used another 5-0 run to take a 16-11 lead. Malinowska,
Kinley Elms and
Kimaya Webb each recorded a kill during the surge.
The Cardinals later extended their advantage to seven with a 4-1 run before
Grace Hill delivered three consecutive kills to keep the margin at seven.
Elms recorded the set-winning kill to even the match at 1-1.
After three early ties in the third set, the Cardinals used a 3-0 run to take a three-point lead. Hill recorded a kill and teamed with Webb for a block during the run.
The Islanders responded with an 8-3 run to take an 11-9 lead, but Lamar answered with three straight points to regain the lead, 12-11. Elms recorded two kills during the surge.
The score was tied five more times before the Cardinals used a 3-0 run to take a 19-16 lead. Hill and Malinowska each recorded a kill while Coy added a service ace.
Lamar never trailed again and extended its lead to four after Martinez capped a 3-1 run with a kill.
An A&M-Corpus Christi attack error ended the set and gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead in the match.
After four early ties in the fourth set, the Cardinals used a 3-0 run to take an 8-5 lead.
The Islanders responded with a 5-2 run to even the score at 10-10.
Lamar surged ahead with a 6-1 run. Malinowska recorded two kills while
Gabby Baker added a service ace and Martinez contributed a kill.
A&M-Corpus Christi answered with a 4-1 run to cut the deficit to two.
A kill from Hill extended Lamar's lead to three before the Islanders scored two unanswered points to pull within one.
Malinowska responded with back-to-back kills to push the Cardinals' advantage back to three.
The Islanders used a 4-1 run to tie the score at 23-23, but Lamar closed out the set with two straight points.
Martinez delivered a kill before Malinowska served up a match-winning ace.
MATCH NOTES
- Malinowska paced Lamar with 18 kills, nine digs, three service aces, two block assists and one assist.
- Martinez added 16 kills and three block assists, while Hill chipped in nine kills, two block assists, one solo block and one dig.
- Katelyn Hughes and Gonzalez directed the offense with 21 and 20 assists, respectively.
- Hughes added three digs and a service ace while Gonzalez finished with four digs and an ace.
- The Cardinals hit a season-high .316 and recorded 16 block assists and five solo blocks.
- Webb had four block assists while Maksoud registered four solo blocks.
- Baker led the defensive effort with a season-high 27 digs to go along with five assists and two service aces.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals travel to Edinburg to take on UT Rio Grande Valley at noon Saturday, Oct. 17.
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