The Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) Volleyball team seized its first Lone Star Conference (LSC) win of the season against the Western New Mexico Mustangs, 3-2. The game was at the Steinke Physical Education Center (SPEC) on Friday.
Game trailblazers were Melanie Casteel, Madison Brabham, Sarah Miller, and Haley Hutchinson – all raking up a total of 48 kills, 18 blocks, and a pair of aces.
“Our crowd today was pretty good, so that excitement carried onto the court. It was really nice,” Brabham, a senior on the volleyball team, said.
Brabham led the team in the LSC with 336 kills in 2017. The senior knows the expectations to be fulfilled.
“Lots of wins – [chuckles] that’s what you should expect! You can’t go into a game not expecting it,” Brabham said.
Though the Javelinas came out with the win against the Mustangs, there were still 22 errors and space for improvements to be made in the future.
“Keep our energy up on the court, constantly. We struggle with that sometimes during games…we need to stay up the entire game,” Brabham said.
Brabham is not the only one with a winning mindset for the 2018 volleyball team. Graduate Assistant Kyra Henderson holds the same mindset after witnessing the development of the new squad.
“The team has been able to build on the chemistry and are working on it every single day,” Henderson said.
“I was expecting the outcome of tonight’s game. [A lot] is to come of this season and it is going to be very exciting,” Henderson said.
The Javelinas fought until the end and took the Mustangs to the fifth set with a 25-11, 25-14, 23-25, 20-25, 17-15 battle. It boiled down to heart and hustle as the Javelinas sent the Mustangs home with a loss.
Head coach Tanya Allen and her team won’t get much rest, as they returned to the SPEC today at 2 p.m. to host UT Permian Basin.
