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KINGSVILLE, Texas – In a score that is becoming a haunting reoccurrence for Texas A&M International, another contest was finalized by way of a 3-1 margin.
Texas A&M-Kingsville downed the Dustdevils, 3-1 (25-23, 25-9, 25-22, 25-7), on Tuesday. TAMIU falls to 1-11 with the non-Heartland Conference defeat while TAMUK improves to 7-6 on the year. Seven of TAMIU’s 11 losses have come via 3-1 scorelines.
The Dustdevils weren’t silenced offensively, scoring 45 team points – 17.5 of which coming from junior Alex Ciszek – but the Javelinas nearly doubled TAMIU’s total with 74 points of their own. Ciszek contributed with 14 kills, three aces and a block, while team captain Miranda Pratt threw down five kills of her own.
Aside from Ciszek’s point-scoring spree, Pratt and Paige Criss put in 5.5 points, respectively, and Lizzie Prieto contributed an even five of her own.
Prieto continued her selfless play as a sophomore, dishing a team-high 24 assists – 75 percent of the team’s 32 total assists. The Alexander High product leads the Dustdevils with an astronomical 356 assists through 43 sets played (8.28 assists per set).
Defensively, Desiree Ortiz led the pack with 10 digs and Prieto again came in among the top with eight of her own. Sophia Quinones also dug out eight of the Javelinas’ attacks.
The match’s four games raced at a more pulse-pounding pace than the final tallies may depict. Every game except the second featured score-tying plays and lead changes, with six and eight coming in the first and third games, respectively.
The visit to Kingsville marked the initiation of TAMIU’s second lengthy road trip of the season. The Dustdevils will face visits to St. Mary’s, Newman and Oklahoma Panhandle State before returning to the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building on Oct. 10 to face Dallas Baptist. TAMIU embarked on a nine-game adventure to kick off the season.
