The Javelina volleyball team hosted the Emerald Beach Hotel Invitational at the Steinke Physical Education Center Sept. 12-14. They went up against St. Mary’s, Westminster, Augustana, Edinboro and Southwest Baptist.
The Blue and Gold went 3-2 over the weekend and now sit with a record of 7-2. The long weekend consisted of five matches in three days, where they swept three of the five teams they competed against. The Javelinas lost their first match of the season this weekend and were able to see where they need to improve for the matchups ahead.
“We saw some good things but I definitely saw some things we have to work on and improve on,” Head Coach Tanya Allen said, “It wasn’t the outcome we wanted completely, but it is nice to see a lot of kids working hard and a lot of kids fighting to get in the lineup and seeing some improvements.”
In their first matchup of the Invitational, the Javelinas faced the St. Mary’s Rattler’s who handed them their first loss (25-13, 14-25, 25-20, 21-25, 13-15). In the intense five set match senior Melanie Casteel racked up 15 kills, while sophomore Emily North recorded her first double-double of the season with 32 assists and 10 digs.
The Javelinas started the match off strong with a 25-13 set win over the Rattlers but the Rattlers fired back with a 25-14 set win of their own. In a tough third set, the Javelinas went back and forth with the Rattlers but eventually overpowered the Rattlers with a 25-20 set win. In the fourth and fifth sets the Javelinas trailed behind and were unable to come out on top despite closing in on the Rattlers several times. St. Mary’s and TAMUK will meet up again in conference play where the Javelinas will have a chance to redeem themselves. Seniors Talleyshia Morris and Melanie Casteel both feel excited to meet up with St. Mary’s again.
“By that time, we should be comfortable with each other, understanding how everything works and keep in with the game a little bit harder,” Morris said.
The Javelinas bounced back from their loss and got their fourth sweep of the 2019 season when they defeated the Westminster Griffins (28-26, 25-23, 25-21). All three sets were close, but the Griffins couldn’t match up with the Javelina offense. North recorded her second double-double of the season with 31 assists and 16 digs, Casteel added 18 more kills to her list in the win over Westminster.
On Friday the Javelinas had a tough matchup against the Augustana Vikings. Despite their best efforts, the TAMUK defense and offense struggled against the Vikings. The Javelinas only recorded 23 kills as a team and 59 digs. The Vikings were able to come out on top in three matches (25-18, 25-21, 25-14). The Javelinas had several opportunities where they came close but couldn’t quite find the momentum to pull ahead.
Despite a tough start to their day, the Javelinas came back Friday night to sweep the Edinboro Fighting Scots (25-13, 25-17, 25-17). Casteel and Morris combined for 15 kills and sophomore Roxanne Morris had six kills and two blocks in the Javelina victory.
The Blue and Gold ended their weekend on a high note by rolling through the Southwest Baptist Bearcats (25-19, 25-19, 25-20) and marking their sixth sweep of the season. Although the Bearcats took the lead in the first set, the Javelinas went ahead and never let them get that lead back. In the second set, the Bearcats took the lead again but fizzled out once more for the Javelinas to grab the win. The third and final set of the Javelinas long weekend started off with the Javelinas and Bearcats trading the lead but the Javelinas pulled ahead once again leaving the Bearcats behind.
The Javelina volleyball team closed out their weekend with three wins and two losses. Even though they won three games and had a couple of tough losses over the weekend, Casteel believes they are still finding their groove and once that happens, they will be even better.
“Every day we’re just trying to get better and working harder everyday in practice. It’ll come together,” Casteel said.