Ending its undefeated record, Texas A&M volleyball took its first loss of the season to a team that hadn’t had a single victory so far this season.
The Aggies came into the first game of the doubleheader against Mississippi State with a 4-0 record, which was completely opposite the Bulldogs’ record of 0-4. However, on Wednesday, Nov. 4, A&M took its first loss of the season, 3-1.
A&M coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn said A&M’s attention to the Bulldogs’ prior record cost them.
“Tonight we learned a hard [and] challenging lesson, respect your opponent and execute at the highest level,” Kuhn said. “Mississippi State, they wanted it and they outworked us. It comes down to playing the game, they executed and we did not.”
Set 1 was close, with 13 ties and seven lead changes throughout, but the Aggies closed out the set, 25-21.
A&M had a total of 13 kills, with sophomore outside hitter Lauren Davis, the team leader in kills, led the way once again with five. Also a standout was senior setter Camille Conner who had two aces and 11 assists.
Despite her aces, Conner said A&M’s undisciplined performance spoke volumes.
“It was fun getting the ace[s] and seeing the team’s reaction and playing in front of the 12th Man,” Conner said. “[But] we were undisciplined [in] this game and it shows. Normally when [an opposing] team is out of system, you capitalize on it. We were not able to do that.”
The Bulldogs used tipping to their advantage in the second set and flipped the score from set one, taking the set, 25-21. Morgan Davis was a standout for the Aggies this set, at one point having back-to-back kills and also giving the Aggies the lead at 16-15. Despite the 10 ties and five lead changes, Mississippi State eventually ended the set on a six-point streak, which they sought to continue in set three.
The Davis sisters performed the best for A&M offensively during the matchup. Morgan Davis had the most kills for A&M with 13 and had 23 attempts. Lauren Davis followed with 10 kills and a .192 hitting percentage.
Morgan Davis said the team is unhappy despite any good performance seen on the court.
“For me [being the team’s energy bus] means giving everyone everything I have. That’s always been my mentality,” Davis said. “I can feel good about my performance, but in the end it’s a loss for our team. As a team we are not satisfied with a loss.”
Mississippi State came out swinging in set three, increasing its six-point streak to 14, scoring eight right off the bat. However, A&M sophomore opposite hitter Treyaunna Rush broke the Bulldogs’ scoring streak, the Bulldogs captured a five-point scoring streak before being blocked out by A&M. Ultimately, the Aggies were unable to recapture their momentum and ended the set on a double hit error, giving the set to the Bulldogs 25-17.
The Aggies stepped onto the court in set four wanting to reclaim their dominance. Following Mississippi State scoring first and putting 2-0 on the scoreboard, A&M answered with a four-point scoring streak. Although Mississippi State countered, the Aggies eventually took a five point lead, 15-10. A kill from Davis tied it up at 22. A&M was only able to score one more point during the match, before the Bulldogs claimed the victory off of a kill from junior middle blocker Gabby Waden.
An offensive standout towards the end of the match for A&M was Rush. Rush had the third most kills in the match, with nine on 23 attempts.
Kuhn said the Aggies will go into the match tomorrow with a defensive focus.
“Defensively we were not clean, they were out of system for the majority of the night,” Kuhn said. “We just did not take care of our side defensively,”
The second game of the doubleheader against the Bulldogs also takes place in Reed Arena on Thursday, Nov. 4. First serve is set for 7 p.m.