Texas A&M-Corpus Christi beach volleyball, women's tennis head to NCAA Tournament

The busy spring calendar is ramping up at the college level as two Texas A&M-Corpus Christi programs open play in the NCAA Tournament this week and the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team will jockey for positioning in the heavyweight Lone Star Conference Tournament.

The Islanders Beach Volleyball program will become the first Southland Conference team to compete in the NCAA Tournament in the sport on Wednesday against No. 2 national seed TCU in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi beat Houston Baptist 3-2 in the Southland Tournament to claim an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The 15th-seeded Islanders are 21-12 and meet the Horned Frogs at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

More:Here are 20 athletes to watch at UIL Regional Track Meets this weekend

The first round of the tournament is single elimination with the eight winners advancing to a double elimination quarterfinal bracket on Friday.

A&M-Corpus Christi head coach Gayle Stammers was named Southland Conference coach of the year and all five pairs earned all-Southland Conference honors.

Jade Bennett and Tori Johnson were named to the first team at No. 2 and Aurora Carnes and Micaela Mirabal were named first team at No. 4.

The Islanders and Horned Frogs met earlier this season at the Fight in the Fort Tournament hosted by TCU, with the Horned Frogs winning 5-0.

BACK IN THE SWING

The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's tennis team also learned its NCAA Tournament draw this week. 

Steve Moore's Islanders will face No. 7 national seed Texas A&M in College Station after earning the automatic bid from the Southland Conference.

A&M-Corpus Christi finished the season 22-3 and is making its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance and fifth overall.

The Islanders and Aggies clashed earlier this season with the Aggies earning a 7-0 win.

THE ROAD BEGINS

The Javelina softball team rose to No. 2 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II national rankings on Tuesday heading into this week's Lone Star Conference Tournament.

Texas A&M-Kingsville is 43-8 on the season and ended as the conference's No. 2 seed.

The Javelinas sit at No. 3 in the South Central regional rankings behind regular season champion and No. 1-ranked UT-Tyler and Lubbock Christian.

A&M-Kingsville features several Coastal Bend products including pitchers Saidi Castillo, Carissa De Los Santos (Santa Gertrudis Academy) and Lizette Del Angel (Calallen).

Rockport-Fulton's Loren Kelly has started 50 games this season for the Javelinas and Jackie De Los Santos, Breanna Carr (Santa Gertrudis Academy), Daniella Ramos (Robstown) and Lauren Mata (Calallen) have seen action this season.

More:Hooks to celebrate 'Rodeo Week' as San Antonio Missions return to town

The LSC Tournament is single-elimination. The Javelinas face the winner between St. Mary's and St. Edward's in the quarterfinals.

The NCAA Division II South Central regional tournament is set for May 12-14 at two regional sites.

The No. 4 seed A&M-Kingsville baseball team opens up LSC Tournament play with a best-of-three set against No. 5 UT Tyler.

The winner will face the winner between regular season champion Angelo State and No. 8 St. Mary's in the first game of a double-elimination tournament (May 12-14) hosted by the highest remaining seed.

Jason Gonzales' team was slotted fifth in the initial South Central regional rankings, released last week.

JAVELINAS HONOR

• Texas A&M-Kingsville assistant women's basketball coach Kayla Weaver earned recognition last week.

Weaver was named small college assistant coach of the year by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. 

Just completing her third season with the program, Weaver was instrumental in the Javelinas' first winning season since 2009-10.

• After setting a new program record in women's pole vault Kimberley Ortolon was named Lone Star Conference Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week.

Ortolon cleared (12-4.5) at the J. Fredd Duckett Twilight Invitational hosted by Rice.

SIGNINGS

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball, coming off its second NCAA Tournament appearance, announced the signing of Ross Williams.

Williams, a 5-foot-10 graduate guard, scored 19.8 points a game at Colorado Christian, an NCAA Division II school.

The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team inked Long Beach State transfer Shelby Ray.

Ray redshirted in 2021-22 and played at Lexington High School in Texas. The 6-foot-3 Ray was named All-State as a senior by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.

WALK OFF

Veterans Memorial graduate Daylan Pena has had a strong season for the nationally-ranked Texas State baseball team and he added another highlight last weekend.

Pena, who is tied for third on the team with 38 RBI, recorded one in a key moment last week.

The freshman smacked a two-out RBI single to propel the Bobcats to an 11-10 win against South Alabama on Saturday.

Pena is hitting .285 with six home runs and seven doubles.

Quinton Martinez covers all things sports in South Texas. Support local coverage like this by checking out our subscription options and special offers at Caller.com/subscribe