The Texas A&M volleyball team swept the Georgia Bulldogs at Reed Arena on Sunday.
With the victory, the Aggies move to 14-5 on the season, including a 6-3 record against SEC opponents. The win against Georgia (15-5, 7-2 SEC) snaps the Bulldogs’ five-match win streak and pushes them out of first place in the SEC.
“That was a solid team win,” A&M coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn said. “I know that gets old to hear, but to come back home after being on the road, with our road warrior mentality, and beat a very good team in Georgia 3-0, we just executed at a high level.”
Junior setter Camille Connor led the team in assists with 35, while also finishing with five kills and four digs. Connor has finished with over 30 kills in the last six matches.
Senior outside hitter Hollann Hans, who was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week last week, continued her high offensive production against the Bulldogs, leading the Aggies with 13 kills and a season-high four service aces.
“She was feeling it,” Kuhn said. “I actually looked at her at one point because she just looked over at us and you can just tell she was feeling it and she had that groove. I love when she looks like that and I know she feels it inside. It’s the nature of athletics, you’re not always going to be on, but she was being on today.”
Senior libero Camila Gomez led all Aggies with 11 digs, despite recording zero digs during the first set.
To open the match, Georgia and A&M struggled to build any lead early, with both teams matching each other seven times in the first 20 serves to tie the score at 10. However, the Aggies then began to build offensive momentum, going on a 14-4 run to put themselves at set point. After Georgia managed to win the next two points, a ball handling error by Georgia’s Meghan Donovan gave the Aggies the 25-16 set win.
The second set proved even closer than the first, as Georgia and A&M exchanged the lead six times, including 13 ties. The Aggies finished the set strong on a 8-3 run off of kills from Hans and freshman Treyaunna Rush. Rush finished the match with a career high 10 kills and finished with 5 blocks.
After the match, Rush said her growing comfortability in this team has allowed her to step up.
“It’s just really in the back of my mind that I need to step up and do this for the team,” Rush said. “We have two other girls that can lay right side, but I know that I need to be out there and so I just want to continue to get better.”
The Aggies started off the third set in control, winning 11 of the first 18 points. Georgia kept it close, however, as an ace by Georgia’s Kendall Glover tied the score at 19. In the final parts of the set, the Aggies pushed past the Bulldogs, with two blocks by sophomore Mallory Talbert putting A&M in the lead for good. A kill by Conner gave A&M the 25-21 set victory, clinching the match for the Aggies.
Kuhn said the offense was patient in choosing their shots across the net, which shaped how Georgia could react.
“They were very intentional with the balls that they were hitting on line, balls that they were hitting across,” Kuhn said. “We got a couple of kills down the line from both pins so their block was kind of all over the place. Then we were able to abuse the middle of the court. But the way we started was very intentional, where they were attacking. That is a focus that we had this week. I’m very impressed with how they executed today.”
The Aggies will go on the road for a trip to Kentucky, as they face off against the Wildcats in Lexington on Nov. 1 before returning to face Missouri in College Station on Sunday. First serve against the Wildcats will be at 6 p.m.