After an incredible reverse sweep in its last game against Missouri, Texas A&M volleyball looked to continue that energy as it traveled to Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama to face the No. 24 ranked Auburn Tigers on Sunday.
The Aggies did not disappoint its fans, taking out the Tigers, 3-1, behind junior opposite hitter Logan Lednicky’s season-high 23 kills and 18 digs to match her career best.
“She’s been working on being an all-around volleyball player, and you saw that on defense today,” coach Jamie Morrison said. “She’s one of the best players in the country and continues to prove it night in and night out.”
The Maroon and White started off the match strong. After both teams tied at 11, A&M went on a 6-0 run after taking advantage of Auburn errors, great serves and kills from junior middle blocker Morgan Perkins and junior outside hitter Emily Hellmuth to take control and win the first set, 25-20.
The second set was a completely different story. While the Aggies went on a run to capture the first set, it was the Tigers who took six straight points after both teams were knotted at 7. The Maroon and White attempted a comeback after being down 15-10 in the set. Within a blink of an eye, the Aggies recorded five kills and went on a 7-2 spurt to even the score at 17.
However, after this spurt, the Maroon and White only added one more point in the set. Auburn racked up kills from graduate MB Chelsey McCurdy, graduate right-side hitter Bella Bell and freshman OH Lauren Dreves to gain momentum, then took advantage of some A&M errors to run away with the second set, 25-18.
The third set went back and forth as no team led by more than four points. After Dreves recorded a kill to cut A&M’s lead to 17-16, Lednicky shifted all momentum to the Aggies after she contributed back-to-back kills to go up 19-16.
Despite Auburn’s attempt to make a comeback, it could never gather enough momentum to make a push as the Aggies took the third set, 25-21.
The start of the fourth set saw the Aggies and the Tigers going back and forth as no team gained any momentum. After Auburn junior outside hitter Madison Scheer cut the A&M lead to 12-10 with a kill, Lednicky and Perkins scored back to back kills to give A&M a 14-10 lead.
The game continued to be tight as Auburn came within one point two more times throughout the set before A&M ran away with the set and the match, 25-19.
“I thought it was a great all around win,” Morrison said. “We put pressure on them from beginning to end. We let off a little bit in pieces in the second [set], but it wasn’t just one swing, one block, it was just consistently good volleyball that won the match.”
The Maroon and White are back in action as they will travel to Oxford, Mississippi to take on Ole Miss at the Gillom Athletics Performance Center on Wednesday.
