# Volleyball Clinches Fifth Southland Win with 3-1 Victory over Wildcats

CORPUS CHRISTI - The Texas A&M - Corpus Christi volleyball team continued its winning streak, with a 3-1 victory (25-23, 25-18, 20-25, 25-10) over Abilene Christian Saturday afternoon at the Dugan Wellness Center. The Islanders clinched its third straight Southland Conference match and have won seven of its last eight matches to improve to 10-7 and 5-1 in conference play.

Ivy Baresh had a dominating performance to lead the Islanders over the Wildcats (5-9, 1-5 SLC), in the first meeting between the two schools in program history. The sophomore picked up her eighth double-double of the season and matched a career-high 16 kills and 17 digs. Brianna Brink hit a season-high 18 kills to power the Islanders' offense on an impressive .483 hitting. Ashley Phelps also contributed with 12 kills to help the Islanders out-hit the Wildcats 62-35. Senior Logen Bourque recorded her second back-to-back match with 50-plus assists. The senior dished out 55 assists, just four short of tying her career-high of 59. The Islanders also tallied seven aces, including three from Shayla Maldonado, in the four-set victory.

Defensively, the Islanders were paced by three players in double figures. Hailey King collected 19 digs, Baresh added 17 and Renee Ramirez registered 10 of the Islanders' match-high 68 digs.

The Islanders jumped out to a 2-0 lead before ACU captured the third set. Texas A&M - Corpus Christi came back with an explosive fourth set to seal its fifth conference match of the season.

In the first set, the Islanders jumped out to a 7-2 lead before the Wildcats put together a mini 3-0 run to trim the deficit to two. Baresh and Bourque followed with straight kills to force ACU to call their first timeout of the set. The Islanders maintained their lead until a 4-0 run by the Wildcats knotted the set at 20-20. After an Islanders' timeout, ACU tacked on two more points to take a 22-20 lead. Sarah Sanchez and Baresh answered with consecutive kills to even the set at 22-22. After trading points back-and-forth Phelps and Shaquinn Parker put down back-to-back kills to clinch the first set for the Islanders, 25-23. The Islanders hit .135 in the set and limited the Wildcats to just .047 hitting.

Texas A&M - Corpus Christi carried over their momentum into the second set with a 25-18 victory. The Islanders jumped out to a 9-1 lead and held the lead the whole set. The squad took their biggest lead of the set at 14-4 after Sanchez recorded a kill and followed it with an ace. ACU cut the Islanders' lead to five at 20-15 with three straight points. However, the Islanders stayed in front the rest of the way with Baresh and Bourque finishing the set 25-18, with a kill and an ace. The Islanders hit .188 in the set and tallied four aces.

The Wildcats clawed their way back into the third set to win 25-20. The set featured 13 ties and seven lead changes. The Islanders and Wildcats rallied back-and-forth until the visitor's scored four straight to take a 23-19 lead. Haley Satterwhite Day followed with a kill but consecutive kills by the Wildcats earned them a 25-20 victory.

The Islanders responded with a dominating fourth set to clinch the match. The team opened with an 11-3 lead and never looked back. With the Islanders ahead 14-8, Phelps and Parker hit back-to-back kills and an ACU error padded the Islanders' lead to 16-8. Texas A&M - Corpus Christi extended its lead to 20-9 on kills by Brink and Baresh and a Wildcat hitting error. After an ACU point, the Islanders put together a 5-0 run to finish the set and the match 25-10. Texas A&M - Corpus Christi hit .286 in the set and Baresh, Brink and Phelps all tallied four kills apiece.

The Islanders will head back out on the road for its next three conference matches. First up is first-year Southland Conference member New Orleans on Thursday, Oct. 10. First serve is at 7 p.m.

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