After winning its first two matches of the season, No. 9 Texas A&M outlasted Central Arkansas in a five-set thriller at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston. The Aggies took on the Sugar Bears as part of the Rice Invitational and improved to a 3-0 record on the season after a thrilling victory.
After beating Rice in a three-set sweep on Friday, Aug. 29, the Maroon and White finished their time at the Rice Invitational with a win over Central Arkansas. The Aggie offense was led by sophomore outside hitter Kyndal Stowers, who had 14 kills and a .379 hitting percentage on the evening, leading the Aggies in both stats.
All the stars were aligned for the Aggies in the first set, as they trampled over the Sugar Bears, taking Set 1 25-13. There was a lot of back-and-forth action to open up the set, until several attacking errors from Central Arkansas allowed A&M to separate and capitalize on offense.
Freshman OH Taryn Morris played her first sets of the season, recording nine kills, including four in the first set. The Maroon and White had their best set of the evening, recording 17 kills and only having two hitting errors while holding the Sugar Bears to 13 points.
Central Arkansas regained its footing in the second set as it slowly chipped away at A&M from start to finish. The Aggies significantly decreased their hitting percentage, going from 0.500 to 0.080 between Sets 1 and 2. After seven service errors from the Aggies, the Sugar Bears capitalized and took the second set 25-21.
The third set was all A&M from the beginning, as it scored five straight points to open the set with a pair of kills from both Morris and senior OH Taylor Humphrey. Central Arkansas didn’t go away quietly, though, as it got its offense going by recording 13 kills and having its highest hitting percentage of the night, stealing the set 25-22.
Needing to take Sets 4 and 5 to secure the match, the Aggies worked well under pressure and dominated the fourth set, winning 25-16. Stowers was incredible, logging eight kills in the set, including the last four of the set to tie the match up.
With 15 points left to play, A&M continued to go with what was working best, giving the ball to the unstoppable Stowers at the net. The Maroon and White got out to an early 4-0 lead and relied on their offense, using the entire front row to outlast Central Arkansas 15-7.
After improving to a perfect 3-0 record on the season, the Aggies hit the road again as they head to Utah to take on the No. 23 Utes and the Utah State Aggies on Sept. 4 and 5, respectively.
