The Texas A&M women’s volleyball team extended its win streak to four games, upsetting No. 15 Kentucky 3-1 in Lexington on Friday.
The Aggies are now 15-5 on the season and 7-3 in conference play. This win ends a four-game win streak for Kentucky as they fall to 15-6 on the season and 8-2 in the SEC. The Wildcats have fallen to third in the conference while the Aggies move up to fourth.
“That was a great road win,” A&M coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn told 12thman.com. “We love going on the road and having that road warrior mentality and they really battled. We executed at a high level and we talk about that all the time. You guys execute and do your job, good things will happen.”
The good things came almost immediately as A&M started off the first set with a kill from senior Hollann Hans and an ace from junior Makena Patterson. This helped the Aggies go on a 4-0 run that put them ahead 12-8 early. Hans, Patterson and freshman Treyaunna Rush all accumulated kills to help the Aggies extend their lead to 7 at 23-16. A&M was able to win the set 25-18 off of Hans’ eighth kill of the night.
A&M started the second set behind Kentucky 5-3; however, back-to-back aces and a kill from Hans helped earn A&M its first lead of the second set. With little separation between the two teams, Rush helped start a 6-2 run for A&M with multiple kills. After a closely contested second set, Rush helped set up a set point with a kill. This was followed by an ace from sophomore Allison Fields as A&M won the second set 25-21.
Kentucky started off the third set quickly with a 5-1 run that had them leading 9-6. A&M was able to pull within one with the help of freshman Lauren Davis and Patterson as they were down to Kentucky 17-16. Unfortunately, that was as close the Aggies came to the Wildcats in the third set as Kentucky went on an 8-2 run to close the set out 25-18.
After starting slow once again, Rush and Hans helped A&M start a 7-1 run that gave them a 9-5 lead. After a run that saw four kills from Hans, sophomore Mallory Talbert, and freshman Lauren Davis helped stretch A&M’s lead to five as they went up 17-12. While Kentucky went on a 4-0 run to get the score to 21-20, Hans came up with a kill and a block to make the score 23-20. Shortly after, Rush and Talbert were able to put the match away with blocks to put the Aggies over the top 25-20.
Hans lead the team with 19 kills while adding two assists and five digs. Even though her offensive attack was huge for A&M as they were able to recover from deficits, she said she was excited the team was able to come together and win.
“It was a huge team effort and the way we came together as a team was amazing,” Hans said. “Everyone was doing their job, especially Treyaunna. She lit it up tonight. I’m just super excited.”
Rush had 12 kills, two digs and the game-winning block.
“For her to end that fourth set right there, she executed the game plan,” Kuhn said. “We knew they were going to go to her and Trey did exactly what she needed to do, I’m really proud of her.”
Rush said she was not fazed in the moment as she was focused on following the game plan that allowed A&M to pull of an upset.
“I was really trying to focus on shutting the outsides down because that was our game plan,” Rush said. “That’s what happened on the last point. “
The Aggies will host No. 24 Missouri on Sunday. A&M will look to extend its win streak to five as the Aggies also hope for a spot in the top 25. First serve is set for 2 p.m. at Reed Arena.