The Texas A&M volleyball team swept Mississippi State for its second consecutive win at Reed Arena on Friday. The 3-0 win for the Aggies was their second victory over the Bulldogs this season, after previously taking a 3-1 match at Starkville in October.
Senior outside hitter Hollann Hans led the match’s stat sheet with 17 points, 13 kills, two assists and two blocks. Freshman opposite hitter Treyaunna Rush tallied nine kills, while junior setter Camille Conner added 28 assists and 11 digs.
After the match, A&M coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn said Friday’s win over the Bulldogs was good to keep the team’s momentum moving, as needed at this point of the season.
“It was a great team win,” Kuhn said. “All around, they fought and we grinded point for point. There are things that we have to clean up always but in general, for where we’re at right now in the season, a 3-0 sweep is good for us in the SEC.”
Conner said the effort the team puts in on its off-days is what puts the Aggies over-the-top in games like these.
“I think that it just starts in practice,” Conner said. “Just with the training that we’re doing and it’s translating into matches.”
The Aggies started off the match slow, falling behind on an early 4-1 deficit. A Mississippi State attack error and three consecutive kills from Rush and Hans earned A&M its first lead of the set, forcing the Bulldogs to call a timeout. The Aggies held on to the lead for the remainder of the opening set and was claimed at 25-19 off a kill from freshman outside hitter Lauren Davis.
A&M did not get off to a quick start in the match’s second set either, as both teams could not establish more than a three-point lead until a kill by junior middle blocker Makena Patterson, a Mississippi State attack error and a service ace from Conner put the Aggies up to 15-11. The Bulldogs fell behind by nine points before calling a timeout at 22-13. A&M only allowed Mississippi State to put up one more point before finishing off the 25-14 set off an attack error.
Both teams split the first six points of the third set before the Aggies could put themselves up 5-3 with a kill by sophomore middle blocker Mallory Talbert and a service ace from Hans. The next lead change came at 17-16 after a block error by Conner, but the Aggies leveled the game after a Mississippi State attack error. After neither team being able to build more than a two-point lead and three more lead changes, A&M was able to close out the set at 25-22 with another kill by Talbert for the match sweep.
Kuhn said the Aggies facing Ole Miss next will be a good feature to close out their home play for this season.
“They’re going to be scrappy,” Kuhn said. “It’s going to be a good match. It’s senior night, it’ll be fun and they’ll be into it.
The Aggies will next take on the Ole Miss Rebels at Reed Arena on Nov. 24 in Reed Arena at 3 p.m. for their regular season home finale. The game will be televised on SEC Network.