Story by Nick Whitley, Athletics Communications
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – Texas A&M volleyball (12-9, 5-6 SEC) jumped back in the win column Thursday night, outlasting Auburn (12-10, 4-8 SEC) in five sets at Reed Arena.
Morgan Christon led the way offensively for the Aggies, rattling off 19 kills on .293 hitting, while Camille Conner set up her teammates with 52 assists. Defensively, Madison Bowser stood firm at the net with a career-high nine blocks and Brooke Frazier added a career-best 23 digs.
Texas A&M capitalized on its opportunities in the early points, utilizing a flurry of kills to take a 10-6 lead early on. Auburn surged back following the media timeout with a 4-1 run, but a block by Mallory Talbert and Morgan Christon forced the Tigers into a timeout trailing 18-13. Auburn evened things up late in the set, forcing extra points, before taking the opener, 29-27.
Auburn opened the second frame with a kill and carried that momentum forward for an early lead. Kills on the left from Christon and Davis ignited the Aggies’ offense, before a pair of aces from Talbert saw A&M pull ahead, 11-6. Another kill from Christon, coupled with a Tiger attack error, gave the Aggies a nine-point edge at 17-8, while a second-touch smash from Conner put A&M up 20-11. The Maroon & White coasted the rest of the way for a 25-17 win to level the match at a set apiece.
Bowser opened the scoring for the Aggies in the third set, but things remained close through the early going with things tied at four. Rush’s fifth kill of the match tied it once more at eight-all, but the Tigers pulled ahead with a seven-point run to lead 15-8. Auburn led by as many as 10, and despite a 7-1 run from the Maroon & White, the Tigers took the third by a score of 25-20.
A dominant kill over the middle from Conner set off a 5-0 run for A&M at the start of the fourth, with Ciera Hecht paving the way behind the service line. Auburn was forced into a timeout trailing 8-3 but managed a 5-2 run which narrowed the Aggie lead to 12-7. After a number of exchanges, a Talbert kill on a Tiger overpass ballooned the A&M advantage to 18-11. The Maroon & White controlled the
remainder of the set, closing the fourth on a 6-2 run to take it 25-14.
Christon opened the decisive fifth set with two kills and a block, logging every point in A&M’s 3-1 start. Auburn notched two consecutive points to tie it, but another kill from Christon saw the Aggies regain the lead. Three-straight kills gave A&M a four-point edge at 8-4, and a successful tip from Talbert after the media timeout made it a five-point advantage for the home team. The Tigers managed to crawl within two, but an Auburn service error gave A&M match point. Hecht closed out the match with a kill on the left pin to end the four-match losing skid by the Maroon & White.
BIRD BITS
Head coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn
On the team’s ability to finish strong…
“In the SEC, we know that it is going to be a grind. We have to play consistent and be consistent on both sides. I’m proud of the way that we evened out in the fourth and fifth sets. We were playing consistent, and it was just point-by-point. I’m proud of the way that we finished, now we have to find out how to continue playing with that consistency in each set.”
On the team’s huddle prior to the fourth set…
“That’s one of the things that I love about this team. They take initiative. That was all on them, and we let them do that. We always say that when we let the players take it upon themselves, it means a lot more. They came back out, and I told them what rotation we were in, and they were just locked in. You could tell. Those next two sets, they were locked in.”
Junior outside hitter Morgan Christon
On the team’s keys to success on Thursday…
“We like to grind and go all out to get balls up in the air for our side. It all starts with our passing. They (the team) got so much better as the match went on, and I appreciate them. It’s also really important to communicate with the setter all the time to put ourselves in the best position to score.”
Freshman defensive specialist Brooke Frazier
On her career-high performance…
“It’s awesome. I really trust my teammates and my coaches, and it was really important for us to execute the plan that we had. I did my best for them tonight, and it was really awesome to accomplish that tonight.”