The Texas A&M volleyball team breezed past Coastal Carolina with a successful showing in three sets during the opening match of the Fight in the Fort tournament Friday morning.
Graduate setter Elena Karakasi and junior middle blocker Madison Bowser led the Aggies with six blocks each, shutting down the Chanticleers’ offense. Collectively, the maroon and white held Coastal Carolina to just a .065 hitting percentage.
Defense led the way early on in the first set with back-to-back blocks from Karakasi assisting the Aggies to a 13-8 lead. The Aggies remained relentless despite a fight from Coastal Carolina and took the first set, 25-20.
Coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn was impressed with the skills shown at the net during the match.
“This week in practice, we worked on being disciplined with our hands and being aggressive,” Kuhn told 12thMan.com. “I was proud of them for starting the match and setting the tone right away. We have to continue that and continue to execute our game plans.”
The Aggies continued to steam past the Chanticleers during the second set. The team established a 4-1 run to start off the second set behind the Aggies’ sixth block. Coastal Carolina fought back and was able to reduce the lead to just one, but efforts on both sides of the ball gave the Aggies a 15-9 lead. Graduate outside hitter Caroline Meuth slammed three aces on the other side of the net to increase A&M’s lead to 23-11. The Aggies got the job done, taking the second set 25-12.
The game got close again during the third and final set. A great showing from the Chanticleers gave them an eight-point lead over the Aggies, but after two kills from Meuth and a 4-0 A&M run, the score was tied at 23-all. Both teams battled back and forth with seven ties taking place before the score was once again leveled at 30. With her 11th kill of the game, Meuth gave the Aggies the push they needed to reach match point. Coastal Carolina’s hitting error gave A&M the boost to reach the finish line, and the Aggies took the final set, 32-30.
Despite the Aggies getting the win, Kuhn still had some constructive criticism for the squad.
“I was proud of the response to locking back in and getting disciplined,” Kuhn told 12thMan.com “I think we got a little loose, but we always have to do our job. It doesn’t matter who our opponent is, we need to play our game.”