With a 3-1 win over Georgia on Friday, the Texas A&M volleyball team improved its record to 9-4 on the season and increased its win streak to five games.
A&M coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn said she was proud of the way her team fought to get a tough SEC road victory.
“This was a huge road win, obviously, when you have players step up and you are on the road, that is emotional,” Kuhn said. “I think we really settled in, but like I always say: in the SEC right now road wins are huge. I am proud of this team for how they grinded, the way they settled in and that is what we needed to do defensively and passing to get this win tonight.”
A&M got off to a fast start in the first set with a 10-5 lead behind a couple of aces from sophomore Morgan Christon. However, the Bulldogs quickly evened the set 12, forcing the Aggies to take a timeout.
The two teams traded points for the rest of the set, but a Georgia service error gave the Aggies the win in the first set, 25-23.
Georgia came out firing in the second set to gain a quick 11-6 lead, but the Aggies came back with a 7-2 run to even the second set at 13. The catalysts in the run were junior London Austin-Roark and freshman Claire Jeter, who combined for a total of four of the seven points.
However, the Bulldogs would go on to take the set 25-22 to even tie the game at one.
The second set loss forced Kuhn to have her team do a better job of taking care of the ball and cutting down on their errors.
“In the break we talked about taking care of the ball; the first contact serving and passing,” Kuhn said. “We had a lot of errors in the second set so it really just came down to settling down. We stuck with the same lineup and I think they settled in and started to trust and believe in what they were doing.”
In the third set, the Aggies bounced back to gain a 17-13 lead behind a strong defensive showing from sophomore Ciera Hecht. The Aggies would go on to win the set 25-22.
“Being in that position I know that I always have to be ready just in case something happens,” Hect said. “I have to credit our defense and Camille [Conner] for helping me be successful, having that confidence in me to do that and if I could be in that role in the future that they continue to have that confidence in me.”
After gaining a small lead in the fourth set, Georgia scored seven consecutive points to take a 14-10 lead. The Aggies fought back to win the set 25-22 after kills from Jeter, Austin-Roark and Lauren Davis.
“I appreciate the belief that everyone has given to me as a freshman and still having faith in me to put me in and know that I’ll do my job,” Jeter said. “I love the fact that all of my teammates during timeouts will come up to me and tell me anything that I think we need to fix or work on. Winning on the road just kind of builds off of the grinding that we do. It really shows that we can come here and be in a close match and still pull out the win, just shows a lot about our team and shows a lot about what we can do.”
The second game of the Aggies’ doubleheader against the Bulldogs is set for a 6 p.m. start on Saturday from Stegeman Coliseum.