STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State Volleyball dropped the opener of the Islanders Classic, 3-0, against the Texas A&M- Corpus Christi.
 
The Texans (3-4) played their first of two matches in Corpus Christi against the Islanders (2-4). Tarleton State will take on Sam Houston in their second and final game of the Islanders Classic against Sam Houston at 4 p.m. on Friday.
 
Madison Rice-Lockett led the squad for the fourth-straight match posting 13 kills while hitting .303. She notched her first double-double adding a team-best 12 digs. Emma Burke led the team for the sixth match of the year notching five. Megan Hodges tallied a team-high 14 assists.
 
The Islanders controlled the first set early on. TAMU-CC broke out to a 6-1 advantage. The Texans later strung together a pair of point to cut into the Islander lead, 10-6. The Texans use a 3-0 run to cut their deficit to three yet again, 13-10. Corpus Christi distanced themselves from the Purple and White to take the lead, 20-13. The Islanders closed the set with a kill and an ace to take the first set, 25-15.
 
In the second set, the Texans jumped out to an early lead. Tarleton State utilized a 8-1 burst to take their first lead of the match, 8-3. A pair of kills from Taylynn Biggs, a kill from LaNeah Lara and a service ace from Victoria Fontenot fueled the run. The Texans maintained their lead later in the set holding a 19-13 advantage. The Islanders responded quickly running off five consecutive points to tie the stanza at 21. Facing set point, trailing 24-22, the Texans used a Rice-Locket kill and an ace by Hodges to tie the frame at 24. TAMU-CC closed the set with a pair of kills to take the second set, 26-24.
 
The Islanders jumped out to a 4-1 lead to start the third frame. The Texans tied the stanza at five with three kills from Rice-Lockett to burst on a 4-1 run. The team traded points to tie the match again at six. The Islanders regained the lead for the final time in the match with a 3-0 run. The Texans cut their deficit to two, 12-10, after an ace from Teya Nguyen and a Madison Frank kill. Tarleton State cut the score to 13-12, but the Islanders notched a pair of points to head into the media timeout ahead, 15-12. The Islanders took controlled coming out of the timeout and closed on a 4-1 run to take the third and final set, 25-18.
 
Tarleton State will be back in action on Friday with a 3 p.m. match against Sam Houston. It will be the Texans final match of the Islanders Classic.